Abscond to the Other Side
by BlazeSilvermageVIII
Summary: After unexpectedly bonding over their similar struggles, America takes Hungary to a place to escape their lives as nations even for a little while, a place where where no one will ever find them... another world. As America and Hungary enjoy their time in the other world, a threat looms, and they'll find that sometimes they can't simply just escape from problems.
1. To the Other Side

**Hi, guys! Blaze here with another story, and this is one that I've been dying to write for months! This is partly inspired by the game Deltarune, so don't be surprised if you see some similarities in the story. Pairings are undecided. I've always wanted to try something with the 2P World (although it has a different name in this story), so I'm glad I finally wrote this. Oh, and I'll update my other stuff in the weekend in case you're curious. Well, I hope you enjoy this first chapter. Now, on with the show!**

_(Deltarune OST: School)_

America's not gonna lie, he's pretty much super-duper BORED out of his mind right now… Yeah, what a shocker, right?

First off, he didn't get to present another one of his super awesome ideas, even though he's the country hosting this time, because of some mishap with Prussia and Gilbird that ended up cutting half the usual meeting time. America would've tried to call Tony to ask him to download the presentation into another flash drive and fly to his location, but Germany practically insisted that there wasn't time.

Bullcrap! And he brought a good one too! Tony and his buddies from all over the galaxy were going to help create a black hole that only sucked up dirty air, the heat trapped in the atmosphere, and ISIS members! No, really, they could do that! It's actually a lot less complicated than it sounded!

Well, Tony's gonna be disappointed, that's for sure…

Second, politics. Politics, politics, politics… Don't get him started on the politics. Same old, same old… It didn't help that every time he'd try to think too much about certain issues, he'd get a splitting headache and end up contradicting himself. America did have his own opinions, but boy did his people affect him sometimes…

Today was… a little less terrible than usual. Today the only people he argued with were a couple dozen members of the European Union. America had already blocked out most of the argument from his memory but he's pretty sure it had something to do with them being angry for not helping convince his boss to sign some stupid pact or something...

Canada sided with them, of course, to no one's surprise. And then at some point, America got sick of getting crap for putting free speech and his peoples' safety _first_, and he stormed out of the room… Oh, and he might want to call a repairman later… He often forgets about his own strength.

But at least they were on break now, and for a long while too (thank god), so America was free to sit back, relax, and try to _not_ kill someone.

He sighed and leaned against the wall.

And while he's at it, he'll try not to die of boredom too.

Boy, what he'd give to go AWOL for the day. Wait, now that he thought about it, what's stopping him from up and leave to flee to his _special place_? Sure, his boss probably won't be happy to hear that he skipped half of the meeting but screw it. His boss wasn't here, and no one here had the authority to order him around. Yeah, he'll ditch work and then he'll leave to see-

"So, you got shit thrown at you by the EU too?"

America nearly screamed, but he didn't (again thank god), and he jumped, before he whirled around to find a really frazzled and pissed-off looking Hungary.

He relaxed, but he couldn't help but feel off-put by her… pretty scary appearance. America liked Hungary, she was one of the few nations who more or less shared his brand of crazy, but wow, she looked kind of worse for wear. Did she get into another argument with Germany again?

"Hey, don't scare me like that, dude!" America exclaimed in alarm, holding his chest.

"I wasn't trying to scare you." Hungary pointed out, and she seemed to be struggling not to smile at his expense. "You were the one grumbling to yourself planning everyone's doom."

"Still not cool, dude." America crossed his arms with a huff, and Hungary managed to smile. "And I so wasn't planning anything… _yet_… A-Anyway, what happened to you, Hungary? Did Germany, England, France and co. give you a hard time again?"

Hungary's smile vanished, and her expression morphed into a bitter scowl as she sat down next to him. "You have no idea. You know the plot, 'blah, blah, let them in, blah, blah, we'll fine you if you don't, blah, blah, blah, you're an evil witch'. And yeah, I know it sounds like another typical day in the EU, but it got really heated… and I won't deny that it was mostly my fault this time…"

America would've laughed at her summary of things, but he narrowed his eyes when he saw her remorseful expression. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, Germany, England and France tried to kill me…" Hungary said nonchalantly, as if it was no big deal, but America was _immediately_ concerned.

"Wait. You mean normal nation fighting or a literal attempt to temporarily off ya?" America asked worriedly, cause there was a _difference_. And he got into enough spats with China and North Korea to know that.

Hungary hummed, and then cringed. "I'll be honest with you. I'm not really sure…"

"But what caused them to go nuts on you in the first place, dude?"

"I…" Hungary bit her lip, hesitating, and she frowned at him. "I didn't mean for things to end that way, you know. It was kind of uncalled for, but I was just so frustrated and angry that I snapped and-"

"Dude, we've all been there." America remarked, recalling the times when he'd snap… boy, those weren't pretty… "What'd you do?"

"…I _may_ have… mockingly mentioned the New Year's Eve Cologne mass sexual assaults to Germany's face and taunted and berated him about it." Hungary laughed nervously, but her face fell and she wringed her hands nervously. "That, and I mentioned the Manchester Arena bombing to England… and the _many_ terrorist incidents in France…"

Oh…. _god_.

America's mouth dropped. "You did _not_."

"I did."

"You did not."

"Oh, but I did!" Hungary insisted with an apologetic smile. While America was torn between facepalming or scolding her, he let her have her moment. "You wouldn't believe how fast they snapped! I'm pretty sure I _heard_ his mind crack and I think I saw a vein pop in Germany's head. But anyway, we screamed at each other, Germany even tried to punch me…"

"_Germany_ tried to _punch_ you?" America's voice raised a few octaves, but he was too shocked to be embarrassed. "Oh my gosh, are you-"

"But I'm fine, really! He missed and hit the wall instead!" Hungary quickly assured him, eyes widening, and America sighed in relief. "Anyway, Feliks helped me escape while we tricked those three into beating each other up, and now I'm here with you."

Wow… European politics were crazy…

"Cool…" America felt that was the only he could say after a story like that, but then he moved on to another topic. "Which reminds me, why'd ya approach me instead of Feliks or someone you can chill out with?"

"Feliks ran off to Toris to defend him from Russia again, and Czech is out on a 'date' with Slovakia. But there's two reasons…" Hungary held up two fingers and gave a friendly smile. "The first reason is that I figured I'd do something before you destroy the whole building."

"What's the second reason then?"

"Maybe I wanted to talk with someone else who's feeling fed up like me… especially when they're struggling with the same thing… like a kindred spirit…" Hungary responded in a quieter tone, a small blush appearing on her cheeks. It wasn't that hot here, was it? "You don't think we're the only ones here frustrated with the shitty world of politics, do you?"

"Nah…" America shook his head, and he leaned his head on his hand. "I think a lot of people are sick of it, but they either don't want to admit it or are better are at hiding it than we are."

"Was it that obvious?" America muttered, though he quickly regretted how rude he sounded.

Luckily, Hungary seemed to ignore it as she snorted and offered a sardonic smile. "You looked like you were either about to fling a table at someone or throw the first person who annoys you out the window to their temporary doom. I saw Cuba walk towards you several minutes ago to taunt you, but your oozing anger sent him running. So yeah, a _little_."

"Oh…" America said lamely, no wonder he thought he smelled cigarettes a while back.

"So, you don't mind? Hanging out with a fellow tormented soul, I mean."

"Nope, not at all." America smiled, and Hungary cracked a grin. "So, what can the hero do to ease your troubles, Liz?"

Hungary giggled, and she grinned slyly. "So it's _Liz_ now? I know we're supposed to be bonding, but I thought you would've at least started with Elizaveta."

"Well, ya called me Alfred earlier and I thought…" America stopped himself, and he stupidly began to panic. "But, I mean, if you're not cool with it then-"

Hungary smirked and nudged him playfully. "Oh, don't worry, I'm cool with it, _Al_."

America flushed, and he crossed his arms grumpily. "Not cool, dude…"

"Aw, don't get angry." Hungary snickered. "I was just teasing you."

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" America mumbled, and his expression softened when he realized that Hungary was happily smiling _and_ laughing. "At least it's helping cheer you up, dude. That's a good thing."

Hungary briefly stopped her grinning and snickering when realization dawned on her that, yes, she was feeling like her old self again. "Oh, you're right!"

Hungary put her hand on her chin as she put on a pensive expression. "Well, for starters, I think that before we do anything, we should we vent out all our frustrations, anger, etc. so we'll be able to have fun later."

"Good point." America nodded, and he stroked his chin in thought. "Okay, let's start ranting. Uh, wait, but how do we rant about the other nations without the other nations hearing us, yelling at us for it, and make us feel all grumpy and angry again?"

Hungary deflated. "Oh… right…"

And so, they tried to come up with an idea…

Then it hit America.

A light bulb went off over his head as a genius idea came to him, and he snapped his fingers, getting Hungary's attention. "Ooh, ooh! I got it! We just have to use something to scream on so that no one will understand what we're saying!"

Hungary opened her mouth, and it seemed to hit her too. "That's… a really good idea! So, what do we use?"

"Well, I remember this one episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender, which, by the way, is an _awesome_ show." America added cheerfully with a wide grin "Totally recommend it, you won't regret it! It's pure awesomeness! Oh, but don't tell Gilbert I said that."

"Alfred-"

"Even though it was made over a decade ago, it's still and always be timeless!"

"The animation and fight scenes are spectacular, the characters are great and memorable, and it has everything from action, drama, romance, adventure, comedy-"

"_Alfred_." Hungary raised her voice, and America stopped his great in-depth explanation of why ATLA was awesome. She smiled. "I'm _sure_ it is an amazing show. I'll even watch it when I get back home. But what were you about to say about an episode that's supposed to help us…?"

Oops, he got a little distracted. America laughed. "Heh, sorry. Anyway, in the episode 'Nightmares and Daydreams', Aang, the main character, was all super stressed out because he was about to fight the big bad of the series. His friends all tried to help him, and one of them, Sokka, suggested that he try screaming into a koala sheep."

"A koala… sheep?" Hungary repeated slowly.

"I-It's a thing in the ATLA universe. You know, platypus-bear, otter-penguin, polar bear dog, you get the idea…"

"Ah, I see…" Hungary hummed in thought. "And did Aang feel better afterwards?"

"A-Actually, I don't remember… I haven't watched that episode in almost a year." America admitted with evident chagrin, but he remained optimism and flashed another grin. "But you gotta admit, it's a start!"

"Well, it's better than nothing." Hungary gave a determined smile, but then she frowned. "But… where are we going to find a koala or a sheep on such short notice in _here_?"

Now it was America's turn to deflate. "Aw, nuts…"

But then, as if it were a miracle brought by God, or just pure convenience, Australia and New Zealand came strolling past the stumped duo. America and Hungary both froze in middle of their agonizing as their eyes followed the koala and the sheep accompanying Austria and New Zealand respectively. The siblings grinned and waved at the two.

"G'day, Al! G'day, Hungary! How's it going!" Australia greeted cheerfully. "Oy, what's up? You two look like you've seen-"

"A KOALA!" America shouted, pointing at the animal clinging on Australia's shoulder.

"A SHEEP!" Hungary shrieked, pointing at sheep New Zealand was carrying.

"GET 'EM!" They exclaimed together, and the pair charged.

Australia and New Zealand screamed, the former in excitement and the latter in horror, and they swiftly ran off with America and Hungary in hot pursuit.

/ / / / /

Taiwan happily skipped through the halls of the UN building, humming a small catchy tune to herself, as she went in search for something fun to do. Even though she was (unfairly) kicked out of the UN, she's still allowed to hang around _and_ continue pleading her case to the stubborn nations.

Of course, China always had to come along and ruin it, like he ruined everything.

She did her shtick of going about her day pretending he didn't exist and trying her best to stay happy and optimistic despite the old, senile, stubborn, jerk geezer chasing her around and screaming her to stop and listen to her elders.

"Taiwan, stop and listen to your elders this instant, aru!"

You see what she meant?

"I'm not going to stop for you, geezer!" Taiwan shouted angrily and glanced back to stick her tongue out at him. "And there's no way I'm going to speak with you! So unless you'll finally recognize me as a nation, scram!"

"Geezer?! How dare you! That is very disrespectful! No wonder you have few allies, you are a brat!"

Don't storm over to him and clock him. Don't storm over to him and clock him. He's just baiting you. Don't give him the satisfaction, Tai. Prove that you're the mature (and better and much prettier) one. You can kick his ass later.

"You don't me to call you geezer? Fine! I'll just call you shitty old mule instead!" Taiwan stated with a big smirk.

She giggled when China gave his usual scream of indignation. "Why you… I won't tolerate this disrespect! Stop and apologize for your horrible behavior right now, aru!"

"No way, you shitty old mule!"

"Taiwan, I am warning you!"

Taiwan rolled her eyes and immediately expected to hear the usual empty threat.

But then suddenly the floor started shaking…

_(Deltarune OST: Lancer Battle Theme)_

"HAHAHA! HOT SOUP! COMING THROUGH!"

"HELP! AMERICA, HUNGARY, STOP CHASING US!"

Shrieking, Taiwan jumped in surprise and barely reacted in time to get out of the way just as Australia and New Zealand sped through the hall, literally running over and trampling China in the process, and they left a trail of dust behind. When the dust cleared, Taiwan giggled at the groaning China and the sight of footprints all over his body.

"Looks like your so-called reflexes aren't as good as they used to be." Taiwan cheerfully taunted as she stood proudly "You really are becoming a true geezer."

China groaned even more, and Taiwan giggled again at the silly sound. "Y-You insolent, ungrateful, immature… I'm not dead yet! I am the… aiyah, it hurts to talk… I am the Peoples' Republic of… eep, China, aru…! It'll take more than… two stupid Westerners to-"

"GOTTA GO FASTER FASTER FASTERFASTERFASTER!"

"GET BACK HERE SO WE CAN SCREAM INTO YOUR ANIMALS, DAMMIT!"

Taiwan's eyes went wide, and she again jumped away just in time as… America? Hearts appeared in Taiwan's eyes. Yeah, Mr. America and Hungary… The hearts vanished and she stared in shock as America and Hungary charged through the hall, and China girlishly screamed as he was once again run over and trampled as the duo left a trail of dust in their wake. Once the dust cleared, China was face-down and groaning in pain, now covered in even _more_ footprints.

But for the moment Taiwan wasn't focusing on that. What's America doing with Hungary? They didn't normally hang out together as far as Taiwan knew.

Oh, what was she saying? It's probably nothing she should be worried about. Instead, she should focus on taunting China and enjoying his pain and suffering!

"Huh, what do you know? You were right for once, old geezer." Taiwan began joyfully as she beamed over China. "It took _four_ 'stupid' Westerners to defeat you!"

China made some anguished sounds, which caused Taiwan's smile to widen.

"Serves you right for being such a jerk all the time." She harrumphed, and she grinned as she poked the old man's head. "Anyway, I think we're done here. Now, if you excuse me, I'm off to find out what Alfred's up to!

And Taiwan happily skipped away in the direction America went to, jumping on China's back in the process, and left the geezer behind. Eh, he'll probably get better sooner or later… hopefully later than later…

It wasn't hard to follow where America and the others went, all she had to do was follow the carnage and use her sweet and cute charms to ask nations if they knew where the four had ran off to then follow their directions.

Before she knew it, she entered a room where Australia was grinning with New Zealand cowering near him while America and Hungary towered over them with evil grins on their faces.

Taiwan looked back and forth between them in confusion. "What's going on here?"

The four nations looked at her, and America was the one to answer with his usual cute smile. "Hiya, Mei-Mei! We're trying to convince Aussie and New Zealand here to let us borrow their pets so we can scream into them."

Huh?

Taiwan tilted her head, puzzled, and apparently so were the brothers, _especially_ New Zealand. "WHAT? What do you mean you want to scream into our pets? Are you crazy?! You chased us all the way here so you can do that?!"

"Yeah/Pretty much." America and Hungary responded simultaneously.

"But… why would you want to scream into a koala… and a sheep?" Taiwan asked, feeling her lips curl up in a smile.

"Because we're stressed out, and this is the only way we can unwind without getting in trouble with the European Union of Bastards!" Hungary exclaimed loudly, and she raised her frying pan menacingly. "So give us the animals! NOW!"

"Hmm, sounds fun, but why our…" Australia trailed off and then a look of realization came over his face. "Ohhhhh, like in Avatar: The Last Airbender, right? Awesome!"

America grinned. "Yeah, I know right?"

"No, it's not awesome!" New Zealand squawked. "You can't just-"

"So can I borrow Kyle for a minute?" America asked his friend.

"Sure, mate! You coulda just said so!" Australia grinned toothily and handed him over his koala while New Zealand gaped in disbelief. "By the way, thanks for that race back there! Haven't had a good run in weeks!"

"No problem, dude!" America laughed as he grabbed the koala, and then he stared at the bear with a hilariously serious expression. "Okay, Kyle, I hope you're ready, because I got a LOT of stress to unwind."

The koala merely shrugged, not appearing to care.

"Sweet!" America smiled and the glanced at the others. "Oh, and, uh, you might want to cover your ears for this."

Taiwan decided not to question it and covered her ears just as America buried his face into the koala's fur.

What followed was… a little terrifying. The building shook, furniture moved, objects fell and shattered as they hit the floor and Taiwan cringed as America screamed….

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Then it all stopped, along with the shaking, and Taiwan uncovered her ears.

America removed his face from the surprisingly unbothered koala and gagged in disgust. "Augh, bleh- Oh my god, Jett, when's the last time you gave a Kyle a _bath_? He smells like mud, poop and chalk!"

"That's cause we played in the mud a couple days ago and Kyle, the silly guy, stepped on a kangaroo's poop in the same day!" Australia cheerfully explained, just another Tuesday in his country. "Oh, and I fed him chalk today for breakfast!"

"Chalk?!"

"It's high in calcium, mate!"

America turned a little green and returned the koala back to Australia. "Yeah… Thanks, Jett…"

"Anytime, mate!" Australia happily saluted, apparently not noticing America's disgust.

"Okay, my turn!" Hungary said excitedly as she reached for New Zealand's sheep, but the nation hugged it protectively to himself.

New Zealand shook his head. "I-I'm not going to-"

"Give me the sheep or you both get the frying pan."

Wordlessly, New Zealand paled and handed his sheep to Hungary, who immediately buried her face in it. Everyone covered their ears.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Taiwan cringed, and she saw the windows shatter.

Then it was over, and Hungary happily returned the sheep to a shaken New Zealand. "Thank you very much for letting me borrow your sheep. I feel better already!"

"N-No problem…" New Zealand said shakily as he hugged his sheep protectively against his chest.

America wiped his hands and smiled proudly. "Well, that's that. Thanks you guys. Come on, Liz, let's go before England gets here and finds out that we're the reason why there was an earthquake and the ones who broke the windows."

Liz? They're on human nickname basis now? What's going on?

Curious and frankly kind of worried, Taiwan followed them as they left the room.

"Um, hey, Alfred!" She called out shyly, and America stopped and looked back at her. "So, I was wondering… If you don't mind, can I-"

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON THERE?!"

America and Hungary froze in their tracks, and they looked at each other. "Uh-Oh."

"AMERICA! HUNGARY! WERE YOU TWO WANKERS THE ONES RESPONSIBLE?!"

"Shit, we gotta run!" America cursed, and then gave Taiwan an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Tai, maybe we can hang out some other-WHOA!"

"Less talking, more running!" Hungary shrieked as she literally towed America away before England could catch them, and they even whooshed past the brit just as he came marching into the hall and wound up knocking him out as he was pushed against the wall.

And they left…

Leaving Taiwan feeling a little disappointed in herself.

"Oh…" Taiwan blinked, and she looked down dejectedly. "Um… okay then."

She barely acknowledged Australia as he walked to her and looked at her then at the unconscious England, before grinning and holding out his koala. "Hey, Sheila, you look down. How about screaming into my good 'ol koala?"

/ / / / /

_(Undertale OST: Quiet Water)_

"You know, Alfred, I have to admit, I do feel a lot better now!" Hungary remarked cheerfully after they escaped being scolded by England and she patted him on the back. "That was genius. Huh, koalas and sheep, who knew?"

"That's the power of cartoon logic!" America beamed as they plopped down in a couch in the middle of an empty hallway.

And America wasn't even sure if it'd _work_! Especially after he remembered at the last minute that it didn't exactly work for Aang, and Sokka wasn't the best therapist. But hey, it worked for them! That's great! Guess crazy ideas work for crazy people.

"So what now?"

"I… dunno."

"How long is the break again?" America asked with dread.

"About two and a half hours." Hungary responded with obvious distaste. "I think half an hour already passed."

"So we only have like two hours to have the best two hours ever before the break ends and we're back in politics hell?" America said with the flattest tone ever. "Two hours until we come back to Screaming Artie?"

"Uh-huh…" Hungary murmured as she glared at the wall. "Two hours until we're back with Breaking Germany."

"Two hours until we're back with the Totally-Not-Evil Federation."

"Two hours until we're back with the frog with the terrorist attacks."

"…And we have no idea how to spend them."

"No idea at all."

"This sucks."

"Tell me about it."

"Well, we gotta do _something_ before the break's over. Something so cool that we'll forget about the bad stuff." America stated determinedly while trying to something, anything, that could be loads of fun. "I'm sure us crazy people we can think of something!"

"I hope so, Al. Because I am NOT looking forward to coming back to the meeting room." Hungary grimaced as she fidgeted her fingers. "I'm gonna get it this time, and when their bosses find out… I don't want my boss to get another headache."

"You think you'll get in big trouble for that little incident with England, Germany, and France?" America asked worriedly, and he flinched when she reacted angrily.

"Are you kidding? _Of course_ I'll get in trouble for what happened with them, even though _they_ were the ones who tried to hurt me!" Hungary snarled. "All I did was state facts and remind them of the consequences by bringing those people brought. And they just wouldn't leave me _alone!_"

"And I believe you, dude. I'm on your side, remember?" America said calmly, and he patted her shoulder in comfort. "If it helps, I'll stick up for you if they decide to call you out. England always hates it when _I_ criticize him."

Hungary gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks, Alfred."

"No prob, Liz." He flashed her a thumbs-up.

"Now, all we need is…" Hungary started cheerfully, then frowned and trailed off. "No, forget it."

America looked at her puzzledly. "What? What is it, dude?"

"Nevermind, it's silly."

"Come on, I won't laugh."

"You mean it?"

"I do, honest!"

"I just…" Hungary scowled and slumped against the couch, crossing her arms. "I just wish there's a special place I can go where no can find me, and where I'll be able to do all sorts of fun stuff without interruption… like bathing in hot springs and singing scary songs!"

"Somewhere where no one can find you, huh…" America echoed distractedly as he looked up at the ceiling. That sounded like…

"Yes, but unfortunately, I have no such thing." Hungary sighed sadly "You know, Alfred, I envy the size of your country. It must be hard for your government to find you in such a large nation with fifty states."

"Yup, but they always find me eventually." America reminded her bitterly. Except when he…

Hungary sighed again and shook her head. "Oh, I _know_. No matter how hard you try, the government or someone will _always_ find you, even if you hide in Poland's pony stables or in his mall-sized closet! Really makes me wish I can go to that special place…"

Special place…

"But I can't. That's life for us, I'm afraid."

Somewhere… where no one could find them…

…That's it!

A lightning bolt struck him as the most _awesome_ idea came to him.

"What if you can?" America said quietly in realization.

Hungary stared at him with a puzzled look. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Slowly, he felt a big smile make its way to his face as he thought about it more, and the more he thought about it, the more he started to _love_ it. America had already considered going to the special place today, but this was even better! He's going to finally bring a pal along for the ride!

"What if there is a place that we can go to where no one, not even England or Germany or our bosses, can find us?" America stood up "A place where we can get away from everything painful about our lives. A place where we can forget all the bad stuff and be ourselves. A place where can just have fun and be happy. What if there is a place like that?"

"Well, it does sound nice, but…" Hungary trailed off and her bitter smile vanished as stared at him. "Why? Do you know a place like that?"

America's grin widened even more, and he grabbed her wrist. "You bet I do."

Strongly but gently so to not hurt his new buddy, America pulled her to her feet, and he dragged her along as he ran off. He was so excited that he barely heard her yelp and begin demanding answers.

"W-What? Alfred, where are we going?!"

"Isn't it obvious, Liz? We're going to the special place!"

/ / / / /

_(Deltarune OST: Beginning)_

Hungary was having a bit of a hard time trying to keep up with America… in trying to figure out what his grand idea was, not that she was getting tired as he pulled her along through the halls, grinning blindingly as if they're off to a big fun adventure and laughing all the while. She was a good runner. She's just confused.

Now don't get her wrong, she'd take any chance to escape from the world of politics and the constant mockery and disdain of the EU any day at this point, but was it too much to ask to be kept in the loop? And this was America, who knows what could be on his mind to get him so excited? Although, Hungary could be pretty crazy too, and she was into some weird stuff…

But she didn't want him to let go, she just wanted him to slow down and explain. Hungary wanted to get out of here as much as she did, and… she really liked their talk together and their pursuit of Australia and New Zealand, honestly. Hungary hasn't really had anyone to vent out to who understood her current situation other than Poland, Czech Republic and a few others, they were the few who could put up with her anger issues.

But America? She was surprised to find that he didn't cringe or back away from her when she approached him, and instead ending sharing their frustrations together. And frankly, Hungary's forgotten how scary America looked pissed off (did she look anything like that when she's angry?) and more importantly, how stressful his job was.

She was even half-expecting him to punch a huge hole in the wall.

In summary, it was… nice. And she ended up feeling a lot better than she thought, especially after she screamed into New Zealand's pet sheep.

She still wanted answers though.

"A… Alfred, wait! Where are we going?" Hungary demanded just as America made a sharp turn to the left, and she offered a sheepish smile to a baffled Bosnia and Herzegovina as they passed them, then turned her attention back to him. "Woah- Seriously, Alfred, what's going on?"

America glanced to her, and merely gave her one of his famous smiles, along with a thumbs-up. "It's a surprise, Lizzy! Don't worry, you're gonna love it!"

"A surprise?" Hungary repeated, and she almost bumped into Armenia. She laughed nervously. "Oh! Sorry~"

"A surprise!" America nodded, and he laughed loudly.

"What? Oh come on! I mean, does it _really_ have to be a surprise, Alfred?" Hungary asked in slight annoyance, and she tried to give a pleading look. "Can I at least get some hints? Some context? Anything? Anything at all…?"

"Nope!" America chirped.

Hungary let out a sigh and shrugged, smiling. "Fine…"

"I told you, don't worry. It's gonna be great!" America reassured her. "Hero's promise!"

"This surprise better not be something that involves junk food, vampires, or building a giant robot to 'kill the commie bastard' again…" Hungary playfully warned, and she hummed in thought. "Although that _would_ be pretty fun… "

Instead of taking offense to that, he burst out laughing and waved his hand. "Course not! It's gonna be something _way_ cooler than any of that! Trust me, what I'm gonna show you is gonna knock your socks off! And we won't even have to worry about Iggy or Germany hunting us down!"

"What? How?

"Sorry, but no spoilers!"

"Oh, come on!"

So, after some turns, bumping into a couple of nations, _more_ turns, going up the stairs to the next floor, going through a few _more_ turns and running through the seemingly endless hallways, they finally arrived to…

_(Deltarune OST: Quiet Autumn) _

"The supply closet?" Hungary said incredulously as she stared at the door to said room in pure bafflement while America beamed for… some reason, and she snorted. "Really? You dragged me all the way here to the supply closet?"

"Yep, but it's not what you think…" America informed her as walked towards the door. "If I were you, I'd better get ready."

Hungary's lips curled up in a small grin. "If you say so…"

The star-spangled nation winked and pointed at her, clicking his tongue, before he turned toward the door and proceeded to… stare at it. It was at this when Hungary started to feel seriously confused as she watched America stare at the piece of wood separating them from the supply closet. He wasn't waiting for it to open, was he? No, America's not like that.

Was he waiting for something else to happen?

America put his hand on the door. "Hey… Elizaveta…"

"Hmm?" Hungary blinked at him.

"I can trust you, right?"

Hungary flinched at the sudden question. "W-What?"

"I asked if I could trust you." America repeated as he turned around, and Hungary felt surprise when he saw that his expression was dead-serious. "I mean it. Can I trust you? Like… Like with keeping a promise? N-Not a politics promise, a personal person. And you're not the type of person to spill someone's deepest, most important secrets… right?"

"Wh… Where did this come from?" Hungary asked, and she chuckled a bit, mostly to break the tension but it died down as America's expression didn't change. "Alfred, what's wrong? Did I say something that…?"

"Elizaveta, please…" America pleaded, and he rubbed his head as if he were suffering a headache. "I need you to answer."

Hungary frowned at this but answered nonetheless to comfort him. "Well, I think you can trust me for the most part. I wouldn't suddenly backstab you and laugh at your suffering like your enemies and some other nations would."

"Yeah…" He didn't look completely convinced.

"So what's wrong?"

"Listen… I know we're not exactly BFFs. I know we don't hang out together that much. And I know we didn't really become friends again until the seventies…" America said grimly, before a sad smile appeared on his face. "…But I do appreciate you, and I really do like you. You're crazy and energetic like me… and you're a pretty sweet person. How could I not like you?"

Hungary stared at him oddly. Was he alright? Still, she laughed softly. "Oh, why thank you. And… despite your quirks, I always found it funny when you piss off England or Germany, and I like how… _creative_ your ideas can be, impossible as they are. I also admire how optimistic you always are no matter what happens. For people like us, that's pretty impressive. I even envy you for that."

Hungary wasn't sure what compelled her to add that last part, but it did have an effect on the blonde. America's eyes widened and he stared at her dumbfounded, as if he never dreamed that she would say any of that to him.

"Gee, thanks…" America kept smiling, but it didn't really reach his eyes. "Heh, speaking of the seventies… remember when I returned the Holy Crown of Hungary to you back in '78? It was a great moment for us, and our relations."

Despite feeling confused at why he suddenly brought that up, Hungary had to smile fondly at the memory. "Are you kidding? There's no way I can forget that. I-I don't think I've thanked you enough for safeguarding it for all those years, Alfred. I don't know what Russia would've done to it if… Thank you."

America's smile broadened slightly, and it seemed to become more genuinely happy. "I remember when I saw your face light up in joy when you saw it…. You were happy that you could at least one part of your identity as Russia slowly ate away at you and your culture, you were happy that you had another reminder that you're _Hungary_."

That's right. She was _Hungary_. No matter who conquered her lands or who ruled her, no one could ever take that away from her, not even Russia and his cronies. Life in the USSR was harsh and difficult, with their lunatic of a leader blind to her and the others' suffering, and Hungary admittedly made mistakes as well. But even then, there were times when she could smile, when she felt herself…

America's visit that day was one of them. Hungary was surprised at how he and his leader went to lengths to make sure the crown and its jewels would given to the people of Hungary, not the cold, heartless government of the Soviet Union. She couldn't believe she had forgotten that he kept it safe for her.

"I was happy… that you were happy." America said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head, and he gazed at her grimly again. "So… I hope you know that I do care about you."

"I believe you." Hungary nodded.

"And if I can trust you, does that mean you can trust me?"

What was with him and trust of all a sudden? "Huh? Well, I-"

"N-Not with anything extreme, I mean… Do you at least trust me at least a little bit, as far as nations go?" America quickly corrected himself, looking flustered. "Do you trust that I wouldn't get you hurt on purpose… at least?"

Hungary wanted to ask him again what was wrong, but it looked like he wasn't going to rest easy until she answered. So, she gave her honest answer. "Well… I do think I can trust you with that, especially now when we're not in the awful world of politics."

"You mean it?" America looked at her hopefully.

"I do." Hungary reassured him. "I don't have any reason to lie, do I?"

"Then let's do this."

With one last smile, he slowly reached out towards the doorknob and then opened the door...

_(Deltarune OST: The Door)_

Just as she saw the darkness in the closet, Hungary's eyes went wide as the room around her suddenly started to darken. Her blood ran cold. She looked around in bafflement, and she saw that the lights were off, but the room looked as dark as it would be in the middle of the night. What was even more puzzling was that it was still early daytime, but the windows showed nothing but pure darkness.

The shadow coming from the darkness of the closet grew as the room darkened, but it seemed to fade for a second only for it reappear again, and it kept repeating. Hungary's breath hitched in her throat. What in the name of…?

She took a few weary steps back, and she swallowed. "A-Alfred…?"

"Sweet, it _does_ work." Hungary managed to catch him quickly say to himself before gazed to her, usual smile in place. Did he not… see the darkness around them "Welp, this is it. You ready, Elizaveta?"

"Uh, before I answer that, can I just ask…" Hungary began with a tight smile. "Is it… me or did it get _really_ dark all of a sudden?"

"Nope, don't worry, it's not you." America said in a relaxed, unconcerned manner. Hungary felt… _slightly_ better at least. "That always happens when I try to get in there. Like I said, don't worry about it. Pretty spooky, huh?"

"Very…" Hungary agreed, and she looked at the unbelievably calm American uncertainly. "So… are you going to tell me what's going on or…"

"In a minute." America promised, and he frowned for a moment. "Look, I know this looks scary at first… But looks can be pretty deceiving, and we're hellbent on getting away from this awful place, right?"

"I know, but…" Hungary cringed at the look he was giving her. "Are you sure this is… I dunno, _safe_?"

America was upset by this. He frowned. "It is. You said you trusted me."

"I know I said that, but you can't expect anyone to just follow you into a dark and creepy closet without any explanation…"

America's expression softened and he sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Welp, I don't wanna force ya in you're not up for it. I brought you here because you want to escape just as much as I do, and like I said, I care about you. If you don't want to go in, fine. I'll go in myself and you can go back to the Europeans and attend the rest of World Meeting. Your choice."

Faced with _that_ pleasant reminder, she scowled at the memory of Germany and the others berating her. She remembered her desire to escape the downsides of their lives as nations, even for a little while… Whatever's in the closet couldn't be any worse than them, Prussia's vital regions hunting, or politics, right?

And if America bothered to bring her here…

Oh, what the hell.

Mind made up, Hungary gave America a determined smile and took his hand. "Okay, let's do this."

America beamed in joy. "Awesome! Follow me, and whatever you do, don't let go my hand. You won't regret this, I promise. And if something _does_ go wrong, you're free to pummel me with your frying pan as much as you want. Sound good?"

Hungary liked that. "Good. Let's go."

Squeezing the blonde's hand tightly, they entered the closet together. Hungary's first thought upon entering was that there didn't seem a lot of supplies in here for a supply closet, just a bunch of old papers scattered over the floor, but other than that is was completely dark. And then she wondered how she could see them if it was so dark in here.

There didn't seem to be a light switch in here, but it was pitch black in here, so what did she know? Maybe it's further in?

They kept walking. Hungary looked around dumbfounded. It's… kind of big for a closet, no? They should've reached the end by now…

They kept walking and walking deeper into the closet… which should be impossible because no closet (except for Poland's) was this ridiculously big. And then Hungary finally decided to voice her concerns.

"Uh, Alfred…?" Hungary said warily, and she couldn't help but smile anxiously. "I think this closet's… uh… _broken_."

America laughed a little at that remark, but then he abruptly stopped, and a worried frown appeared on his face. "Huh… that's weird. Usually it'd have come into effect by now… Let's go back a little. Maybe we did something wrong."

Despite having no idea what he's talking about, Hungary nodded in agreement and they began to walk back to the door…

Only for it to slam shut before they could even reach it.

Both of them jumped at the sudden surprise, and Hungary scowled. This better not be Romania locking her away in a room again! She tried to storm towards the door and bang it for answers, but America pulled her back.

"What?" She demanded.

"I think this is it." America whispered, gripping her hand tightly.

Before she could even ask, the floor started shaking. Hungary's eyes went wide. "Alfred, the floor-"

The papers started to fall, as if the ground was coming apart, and she and America took a few steps before he hugged her protectively. "Hope you're good at landing."

"Wha-"

Then the floor below them vanished.

And they fell into darkness.

**Well, that's that! I hope you guys liked this first chapter! Please let me know what you thought of this first part in a review. I'll try to update soon!**


	2. ANOTHER HIM

**Thanks to Kramburg, camry72 and NadiaJA627 for reviewing. Finally I finished this, I'd had a busy week so sorry for the wait. But I'm glad you liked the first chapter! Now, on with the show!**

_(Deltarune OST: Cliffs)_

Hungary woke up feeling dizzy, disoriented, confused as hell and with a slight headache. But otherwise, she didn't feel any pain in her limbs or any strong urge to throw up. Good.

Her eyes fluttered open and she groaned as she covered her eyes, her vision was blurry, and the dizziness she was feeling wasn't doing her any favors. Hungary wondered if the victims of her frying pan felt like or worse this after she hit them. Ugh, she might consider starting to go easy on them… Nah, they'd probably deserve it.

Groaning and rubbing her head, Hungary sluggishly managed to sit up, albeit with some difficultly and a bit of nausea, but she did it anyway. She rubbed her eyes as the nausea thankfully seemed to pass, and the dizziness began to vanish. Now she could regain her sense of reality.

Ugh… What happened…?

Then it quickly hit her like she'd hit Prussia with her frying pan. Closet. Door. Creepy darkness. Fall. _America_.

_Where's America?_

_Where the hell are they anyway?_

Hungary's head snapped up once the fact fully sank in, and she began to panic.

"Sweet! You're up, Liz! Awesome!" A familiar voice spoke in a relieved tone. "First trip always sucks, am I right?"

"A-Alfred?" Hungary blinked, looking around, and she made herself turn around towards where she heard his voice. "Alfred, are you… _whooooa, what?_"

Oh, she found America alright, but boy, was she not prepared for the sight that was waiting for her.

There, kneeling next to her with his usual goofy but energetic smile as if nothing's wrong, was America dressed like a _cowboy_. He had the hat with string, a red neckerchief, black fingerless gloves, a white shirt underneath a dark brown bomber jacker with sleeves that reached up to his elbows and a white circle with a yellow star in it located on the small pocket, two belts that crossed to form an 'X' with a gun holster, black pants, and brown cowboy boots.

That wasn't the only thing different from his appearance. America himself looked different. His hair was longer, it's now chin-length. It reminded Hungary of his brother, what's his name again…? Oh, Canada! Except America's hair was only a little messy instead of being wavy.

He looked… very _handsome_. N-Not that he wasn't before, but…

Oh, scratch that! That's not important right now! What in tarnation- Gah, she _meant_ what the hell was going on?

Hungary tried to speak, but she was still in a bit of shock because she had no idea what's going on, so all that came out was, "H-Huh? Why...? You… look…"

But America again didn't appear to be bothered, and he smiled proudly as he posed. "Ya like it, Elizaveta? This is pretty much my default look whenever I cross over here. I dunno why it happens or why a cowboy look, but I always look pretty cool, so it's all good!"

"Wha…?"

"And you look pretty awesome too, Liz!" America gushed, flashing a thumbs-up. "So that's what you look like in this world… I gotta say, I really like the inverted style! Whoe"

"What- What do you mean?" Hungary inquired, sure that the dizziness's starting to return from all the question piling on top of her head, and she looked at her clothing. "I mean, thanks, you're really sweet, but… _huh?"_

Seriously, what the hell? How… what… but why… Huuuuh? Did Prussia switch her clothes again? Because she didn't remember changing into her traditional dress... or at least it kind of looked like her traditional dress… and she definitely didn't remember owning a dress like this! Not to mention she's pretty sure she had Prussia-proof her closet before today.

Hungary really liked her traditional dress, especially all the little flowers. This dress had a beige top with red trim and short loose sleeves, a brown and gold, patterned piece of fabric wrapped around her shoulders and tied in front… and the skirt… Well, it's a little hard to describe… other than being very pretty, was embroidered with different patterns with colors like purple, burgundy, indigo, dark blue… and of course, it had many flowers. Also, she was wearing black boots.

Worried, she also touched her hair, but to her relief, her hair was long as always, thank goodness. Who knows? Maybe the flower on her hair changed, but whatever. This was weird, but other than that…

She looked… pretty damn cool!

"Huh, you're right, I do look awesome…" Hungary found herself smiling. And not Prussia's shabby definition of awesome, truly awesome! And- Hey, a wait a minute! Hungary shook her head and gawked at the still smiling America. "Hey, wait! Where did this come from? Why am I wearing this? Where are we? What's going on?"

America's smiled vanished, apparently finally getting that Hungary's freaking out, and he raised his hands in a calming gesture. "Hey, Lizzy, chillax-"

"I will _chillax_ when I get answers, dammit!" Hungary exclaimed, already imagining herself slamming whoever changed her clothes into oblivion. "Prussia better not have tried anything funny again or he's going to get the frying pan!"

"Dude, Hungary-"

"Wait… Do I even still have my frying pan with me?" Hungary asked distractedly as it dawned on her, and she quickly searched through her pockets. She smiled when it appeared in her hand, and her eyes twinkled in delight. "Oh, good, I still have it."

Boy, whoever changed her clothes must've been an _idiot_! Definitely Prussia.

"Hey, Liz!" America called out, and she turned to him, he smiled a little nervously. "I know you don't say this to girls but calm down. I know this a little freaky at first, but you said you were gonna trust me, remember? Just let me explain."

Hungary's anger at Prussia, who's probably not even responsible for this, evaporated and she lowered her frying pan. She let out a sigh. "Alright, fine. First, why are we wearing different clothes? And why is your hair all se- I mean, _long!_"

"I told you, that's what happens when someone from our world crosses over to this world." America explained simply with a smile, as if it were common knowledge. "Or at least I know _now_ that it doesn't just happen with me. It's funny because back in the 1900's, I looked more like a real cowboy. Guess it changes as the years go by… Oh, and I dunno what's the deal with the hair. I mean, why me and not you? And weird story: I tried cutting it once, but…"

"I'm sorry, _what?_" Hungary finally cut of after pending a few moments wondering if she _heard_ him right. She smiled, but even she could tell it was strained. "Alfred… could you repeat what you just said."

America blinked. "I said weird story: I tried cutting it once_-_"

If Hungary wasn't baffled beyond words, she probably would've giggled at that. "No, _before_ that."

"Guess it changes as the years go by…"

"_Before_ that."

"It's funny because back in the 1900's…"

"No, before and _before_ that. I mean what you said at the beginning!"

America thought about it for a second or two, then his face brightened, and he snapped his fingers. "Oh, yeah! I said that the different clothes and hair thing happens because we crossed over to this world! Pretty cool, huh?"

Hungary stared a him dumbly. "Another world? What are you talking about?"

America stared at her, then took a deep breath before regarding her in a serious manner. "Okay, dude, this is gonna be a lot to take in… but we're in another world right now. Like, another planet Earth everything and nothing like ours, and we're currently in this world's version of the United States."

Hungary couldn't believe what she was hearing. "…You're kidding."

"I told ya I'd take you to somewhere they'd never find us, didn't I?" America said innocently, and he smiled warmly. "Well, here we are! This world is my special place."

"We're in another world…" Hungary echoed while looking a little at her surroundings. She couldn't help but widen her eyes at what she saw. It was dark, dimly lit up by the lights, and it looked just like the hallways of the UN Headquarters. B-But still… "We're still in the UN building?"

"Yep, 'cept we're in _this world's_ version of the building." America cheerfully corrected, emphasizing the two words. "We actually landed in this building's supply closet, but I carried ya out here to the hallway when you were unconscious."

"Oh…" Was Hungary's response to that. "So… _we're_ in another world… right now?"

She already said that, but she still couldn't believe it.

"We totally are, dude!" America nodded excitedly, and chuckled. "It's kinda complicated, but basically, that supply closet? It's one of the portals I can use to go to the other world! That's how we got here! Whenever I want to go to the other side, the place gets dark, and ta-da! I end up here!"

"You can't be serious…" Hungary said in disbelief. She wanted to believe, really, especially since America looked so _happy_. "I'm all for escapism, and I want to believe what you're saying, but Alfred, I'm not sure I can _believe…_ any of this."

She was worried America would be upset by this, but his smile only widened, and his glinted in excitement. "Sure, ya can, Liz! Just look out the window, there's all the proof you'll need! I mean, there's still other evidence, but come on, look, look!"

Not seeing why not, Hungary looked in direction of the windows… and almost immediately her jaw dropped to the floor.

_(Deltarune OST: Hip Shop)_

She was seeing Manhattan… but it was dark, with cars and buildings illuminating the city. She couldn't have been out that long, could she? But then she realized… it wasn't that it was nighttime, it was that the sky was _purple_.

There's a purple sky… But that shouldn't be too weird, it's possible for the sky to be purple… right? And the clouds… looked a little off… But then she looked up, and instead of seeing the moon or something, she saw something that could only be described as a red sun… except for some reason Hungary's eyes didn't hurt as she stared at the sun in utter shock, and she wasn't going blind either.

This wasn't normal, but it looked _real_…

"Really pretty, don't ya think? America asked brightly.

"I… yeah, it is." Hungary agreed as she stared at the… unbelievable and rather gorgeous view.

Could it be?

"Welp…" America wrapped his arm around her. "Elizaveta, welcome to my special place: **_The Dark World_**."

"The Dark World, huh?" Hungary repeated; it certainly does fit. "So, it's… true…"

"Told ya." He quipped.

"Huh…"

"This… this world… this is my biggest secret." America admitted sorrowfully. "I've never shared it with anyone, not even Mattie, not even any of my humans, not even to my best buddies. I couldn't, I was…worried what could happen if I told anyone about this and took them here. I guess I was scared that they'd blab or something… some friend I am, am I right?"

Hungary blinked, and she tore her gaze away from Manhattan to stare at the American, who had a sad smile on his face. Hungary wanted to hug him. "You mean I'm the _first_ person you've ever told about this place?"

"That's right, _first_, and probably the last." America nodded, frowning at that last part. "I _hope_ you're the last. I mean, Tony knows, but that's pretty much it. You're the first person I've ever brought to this place."

"Why would you want me to be the last?" Hungary couldn't help but ask.

"I told you, I… was a little worried they'd blab… Or that someone would get suspicious and make them blab…" America rubbed the back of his head, looking ashamed. "But you, Liz, you don't crack under pressure, you wouldn't cave in to the bad guys. You're brave, and stubborn and cool…"

Hungary stared at them in surprise, and she's sure she felt her cheeks heat up. "You think I'm cool?"

Yes, it's not the most important question, but still…

"Sure I do, Lizzy! You're cool, sweet, crazy like me, not to mention pretty _scary_ cool with your frying pan." America stated fondly with a big smile on his face. "And you get me, and I get you, and the hero can't stand by doing nothing while a cool lady is all depressed. I wanted to share this with you. I didn't want to see you all upset anymore, and…"

"You're too sweet, Alfred." Hungary chuckled, elbowing him gently..

"But I mean it, really dude!" America insisted, and his smile became sheepish. "And… I've always wanted to bring someone with me to the Dark World."

"Wait, is this why you brought up the whole thing about trust?" Hungary asked him, eyes widening, as the realization dawned on her. "You wanted to see if you could trust me to keep this place a secret, right?"

"You got that right, missy." America chirped in a slight Southern accent as he tipped his hat. Hungary had to smile at that. "Like I said, this is my special place. The last thing I want is for someone to come in and ruin it, or worse, that they might wanna do something awful to this world."

"Ah, I see…" Hungary nodded in understanding, now it made sense. "Well, you can trust me with this secret, Alfred."

"I sure hope so…" America murmured distractedly. "I'm trusting ya."

He didn't sound very confident.

"And don't forget that I'm trusting you too." Hungary reminded him with an amused grin. "Remember, you said that if anything goes wrong, I get to beat you up with my frying pan."

That brought America back to Earth. He laughed nervously. "Don't worry, I don't think I'll forget that."

They shared a brief laugh, and they want back to staring at the 'dark' Manhattan.

"I know it feels all freaky and scary at first, but trust me, this place is all kinds of fun." America assured her as he patted her on the shoulder, and Hungary could see from the reflection that he's smiling. "And not only is this place fun, but we're free, Liz. Here, we're completely free of politics, bitchy nations, and problems in our homes. No one, not Artie, not Germany, can come here and ruin that."

Hungary blinked and her eyes drifted to him again. "Wow, not even England can find a way in here? Not even with all that silly stuff about magic and whatnot?"

"Not even him. Believe me, I'm the only one who can go back and forth between the worlds." America reassured her, and then he sighed. "I'll… also explain that later. Man, you'd be surprised how complicated this all is…"

"Wait… We… have this place to ourselves?"

"Guess you could say that."

It's just the two of them here.

No one will ever think that they went off to a whole other world.

No one will ever think of trying to make a portal to this world, not that they could anyway according to America.

No one will ever find them.

They could have fun all the fun they want here, and there's no one to stop them.

And America… despite them not being close friends, brought her here… because they understood each other, because they're tired, because they wanted to get away from all the pressure and trouble… Hungary wanted a special place to escape to… and America took her to his… because he _cared_…

"Alfred F. Jones…" Hungary grinned from ear to ear. "You might be the most awesome man I've ever met."

America laughed sheepishly as he blushed, cutely doing his best to look calm. "Yeah, well, don't tell Prussia _that_."

Not able to help herself, she took America's hands in hers and twirled him around like she'd sometimes do with Austria. She laughed in joy. "Oh goodness, Alfred, we're in another world! I can't believe it! This is… this is… this is amazing, Al! I don't know what to say…"

"No need to, Liz! Real heroes don't demand gratitude!" America's eyes sparkled, though he obviously appreciated it. "And… uh, do you mind if you stop spinning us around? I think I'm getting dizzy…"

"Oh, of course!" Hungary let him go, and America gasped and leaned against the wall for support. "Sorry."

America forced himself to laugh, and he staggered a little. "No… No worries, Liz… I'm feeling just dandy…"

Hungary smiled apologetically and patted his back, then a couple important questions popped in her mind. "_Wait_. So how did _you_ find this place? And how are you able to go over here, and bring someone else along too?"

"Trust me, Hungary…" America smiled mysteriously. "You wouldn't believe me if I told ya. Like I said, you wouldn't believe how complicated this whole thing is…"

"More complicated that the fact that there's another world?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Try me."

"You'll think I'm bat-shit crazy."

Hungary raised an amused eyebrow. "Maybe, but I've already fell into a bottomless pit of darkness with you, woke up with my clothes changed, and found myself in a world where the sun is red, and the sky is purple. If there's something crazier than that, I'd sure love to hear it.

America chuckled, and he tipped his hat. "Good point. Well, I promise I'll explain everything… _after_ we meet Allen. Things will make more sense that way."

Hungary stared at him, puzzled. That name didn't ring a bell. "Allen? Who's Allen?"

"The personification of the United States of America in the Dark World." America answered proudly, and then he happily added, "And my very best bestie!"

Say what now?

"…Say what now?" Hungary's mouth dropped.

"Don't ya see, Hungary?" America said as if she should've figured it out by now, but no, she's still kind of digesting this whole thing. "I know I said I'd explain everything, but I'll make an exception. You see, Liz, there are two worlds, duh, one of them is our home, again pretty duh. The world _we're_ from is called the Light World, or the World of Light, and the world we're in right now is the Dark World, or the World of Darkness, whatever you think's more epic."

"Okay… that's easy enough to follow." Hungary said uneasily, but she just knew she's going to find her head spinning sooner or later. "Light World, Dark World… fitting, okay so two worlds, then what?"

"The two worlds are like, just like the view of Manhattan here," America gestured toward the view, glancing at it fondly for a moment. "Pretty identical at first glance, but there's actually a ton of different stuff here that you won't find in our world and vice-versa, like the red sun there. You with me so far?"

"Yes… I think I'm understanding what you're saying."

"Wow, really?"

"Really.

"Cool! So anyway, what I'm trying to say is, this place is everything and nothing like our world. Think of it like… like…" America's eyes brightened, and he snapped his fingers. "An alternate reality! Yeah, that fits right? It's like our world, but at the same time, it's not! In fact, you know in Marvel comics the Earth where our heroes are is called Earth-616 and that other Earths can also count as alternate realities? I swear, there was an issue where they explained this better…"

Hungary's eye twitched as her friend began to go on and on about one of his favorite series, _again_. She briefly wondered if this was a thing America did often. Well, she's not really in the mood for this, and this wasn't the best time, you know…

"You know, I feel like you can put all this in a simpler way." Hungary interrupted a little irately with a tight smile. "Why don't you just tell me?"

"Hey, I told you, this whole thing is complicated." America held his hands up, smiling apologetically, and he scratched his cheek. "But I'm telling you all this complicated stuff so that you won't be so shocked with what I'm about to tell you."

"What?" Hungary demanded, suddenly a little nervous.

"The Light and Dark Worlds are like twins, you know what that means, right?" America smiled knowingly. "This world has personifications of nations too."

…Huh.

Hungary blinked. "…Oh."

The Dark World has personifications too… That… actually made sense…? You know, that didn't shock Hungary as much as it probably should've, she likely had America's alternate realities spiel or her earlier shock at falling into a portal in a supply closet, finding her clothes changed into ones Hungary should really have Poland make for her, seeing a red sun and purple sky and discovering that there's another world to thank.

If these two worlds were really like 'twins', it should make sense that this world, the Dark World, World of Darkness, whatever she should or wanted to call it, had personifications of countries and whatnot too, right?

But then a realization struck her, and this realization just brought forth all _kinds_ of questions.

"Wait, WHAT?!" Hungary shrieked, causing America to cringe and cover his ears. "T-There's personifications here too?! Then does this mean…"

"If you're thinking that the personifications here are alternate versions of ourselves and are our dopeygangers, then you win A BRAND-NEW CAR! You know, cause you're right!"

"Alfred, it's _doppelgangers_, and are you serious?!" Hungary exclaimed, imagining that there's another her, another _Hungary_, somewhere out there in this world. "I mean, then this means there's… another me here, and another you, another Roderich, another Gilbert… and another version of everyone here?"

"Correctamundo!"

"Wow…" Was the only thing she could say….

"And trust me, it only gets weirder from there."

"Do I even want to know?" Hungary asked with an amused but tired smile.

America placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "How about we save that for when we meet Allen. So… how you feeling, dude? I get that this might be… kinda hard to digest…"

Hungary laughed dryly, and her gaze went to the view of Manhattan again. "This is all a lot of shocking information that's been dumped on me on such a short amount of time... I feel like I've been hit by a ton of bricks…

"My thoughts exactly when I first ended up here." America sympathized, nodding.

"This is weird."

"And pretty freaky too."

"Yeah…" Hungary agreed dryly, and she let out a sigh. "But still better than being at the World Meetings. So… have you… met the other me?"

America's face noticeably brightened. "I sure did! She's one of the nations who knows about me and the Light World, you know! Her name's Erzsi, and let me tell you, she's a real sweetheart! Like a super-duper sweetheart! And her cookies rock! You two should _totally_ meet!"

For some reason, one of Hungary's eyebrows twitched. "Is that so…"

"Yeah, you'd love her!"

"Looking forward to it…" Hungary muttered, and she put one her best smile as she tried to change the topic. "So, we're meeting your double, huh?

"Allen, yeah." America nodded, thankfully going along with it. "Before we do cool stuff, I gotta introduce you to him, if he's anywhere near here of course. He likes moving around, but there's a good chance that you can find in NYC. So, what do you say?"

Two Americas, huh?

Hungary nodded, smiling eagerly. "Let's go meet your twin."

"Awesome! But first, I just gotta find the phone…"

"You didn't bring your phone?"

"Nah, I have it right here, but it doesn't work here, obviously. Trust me, I've tried, but all I heard was this creepy soundbite noise…"

"I'll take your word for it."

/ / / / /

Meanwhile, somewhere in downtown Manhattan…

_(Jet Set Radio Future: Humming the Baseline)_

A certain redheaded nation groaned loudly for what to be the thousandth time and let his head hit the desk. This sucked, no, _this fucking blows!_

America felt really tempted to pick up his bat and smash something to unwind, he didn't want to deal with the repairs later. Again, this sucked.

It's only been a few days since the last World Meeting, or as America had taken to calling it (that Romano hadn't scolded at him for) the Criminal Convention… The original version was ten times more original and insulting. But anyway… few days since the meeting, and he's still _stressed out_. How the hell did things get this bad so quickly? He's sure that it totally wasn't his fault this time…

Yeah, it wasn't him and his big mouth this time! He promised Prussia and Romano that he'd tone it down with his… you know, attitude… and America wasn't stupid. He knew that if he screwed it up, then he'd up end up screwing his country and anyone close to him over.

…But he ended up getting screwed over anyway, so what was the point?! Okay, maybe he's exaggerating a little, probably the stress… The situation wasn't that bad… yet… While a war seems to be on the horizon, it's still not official. And as much as America wished to finally beat the crap outta Italy, war was the last thing this world needed.

Damn that cocky, sadistic, annoying as hell, bat-shit crazy, sick _bastard. _There's a lot of people America would call the bane of his existence, maybe it had something to do with the fact that he didn't like people in general, but Italy's sure been occupying the top stop for a long while. Lately he's been losing more of his marbles, and he didn't have a lot left in the first place.

And Italy's not the only one America needs to keep a good eye on…

Dammit.

It was times like this when America kinda-maybe-a-teensy-weensy-bit regretted getting involved in international politics, but he'd always end up smacking his own as soon as the damn thought crossed his mind. _No, hell with that. You know what you were getting yourself into, and this was the only way to make sure you and the few people in this world you'd actually **die** for wouldn't get screwed over._

Plus being a world superpower was a badass accomplishment!

But why did it have to be such a shitty job sometimes?

"Well, aren't you the one who's fond of the quote 'With great power comes great responsibility'?"

"Awwww, _bambino_… I knew you cared!"

America cringed. Oh _hell_ no...

He turned around and lo and behold, America found the closest things he had to parents right now, AKA Prussia and Romano, standing in front of the door, the former looking as exasperated as always and the other smiling stupidly. How the hell did those two get in here?!

"Hey, what did I tell you about using my favorite quotes against me, Gil?!" America growled in annoyance. "…And… I was talking to myself again, wasn't I?"

"For a very concerning amount of time too." Prussia helpfully added with a worried frown.

"I told you, I'm stressed out! You know that kind of stuff when I'm stressed!" America couldn't help but shout angrily, but they're too used to his shitty temper. "And how did you two get in here?! I told you to leave me alone _and_ I locked the door!"

"I told you, we're not leaving you while you're all grumpy and destructive, bambino." Romano said stubbornly as he ruffled America's hair, much to the readhead's chagrin. "

"Ja, while we respect your need your privacy, we both decided that support is what you most need at the moment," Prussia stated patiently, resting a hand on America's shoulder, and suddenly his infamous exasperated scowl made its appearance. "Also, you slammed the door close so hard that you ripped it off his hinges… again."

Angrily, America looked towards his bedroom his door, and his eyes widened when he saw that the door did get ripped off the hinges… and got broken in too… again.

America blinked, stunned. "Oh yeah, I did."

Prussia was still scowling.

"…Uh, sorry?" He said lamely.

America's not gonna lie, he really did appreciate that they put up with his anger issues and try their best to be good wingmen, friends, allies, or _brothers_ as Romano kept insisting as always (oh please, he's more like a nagging mom more than a brother, still at least he _cared_). But really, nothing's helping him calm down!

"Remind me to call the 'door guy' again later. But anyway, listen to me, Allen…" Oh boy, here we go… Prussia crossed his arms. "I told you, Allen, you need to calm down."

"And I told you, I need to smash something!" America snarled, his fingers twitching as his gaze landed on his trusty bat. He grinned. "Or even better, thrash someone! Hey Flavio, you sure you haven't heard anything from the mafia?"

Romano put on a thoughtful look as he stroked his chin. "Hmm… no, not really, Allen. Oh, but I've heard that-"

"Flavio, you are _not_ helping." Prussia deadpanned, cutting him off before America could get too excited. "Allen, you can't keep brooding here alone forever. It won't make _our_ problems go away, unfortunately."

"Well then, what the hell am I supposed to then?!" America demanded loudly, boy he probably sounded really douchey right now, huh? "Negotiate? Puh-lease, all he wants is the world under his foot, so we can throw _that_ idea out the window."

"That I can agree with." Prussia said gravely, nodding. "Obviously we can't reach an agreement with him, and he's not one to listen to reason…

"And as his fratello, I can tell you he's extremely stubborn… though I think we all know that." Romano remarked with a bitter frown, but then he brightened. "But maybe I can try to reason with him! I'm sure if I pester him enough, along with a bit of harmless blackmail of course, I can get him to back off and things will go back to normal!"

America sighed, and he resisted the urge to facepalm. "Yeah… no offense, Flavio, but it looks like your usual 'stern talking-to' plan will become useless sooner or later. You've seen him at the Meetings, _and_ you live with the creep. He's _slipping_."

Romano frowned, and he shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt to try…"

"Wrong, if he's slipping, then you will get hurt. And yeah, yeah, I know that you know him better than anyone and shit, but even you gotta admit that-"

His really good point was cut off by his phone ringing.

America muttered a few curses under his breath. "Give me a minute."

As he grumpily picked it up, he wondered… Who the hell wanted to bother him right now?

"Ugh… Who the hell are you and what the fuck do you want?" America demanded gruffly, hoping that Prussia didn't hear so that he wouldn't be scolded for bad manners again.

"Language." Romano playfully reprimanded and America shot him a glare.

America already had a few possible suspects as to the hell decided to bother him _now_ in mind, most of them belonging to the _dumb_ category. What, did Cuba stow away in a plane to Florida again? Did Mexico attack again? Or worse… Was Belarus trying to visit him again? Why, he oughta throw her in a crate to Bahrain's house for not cutting the bullcrap after…

He bit his tongue and opted to not jump to any conclusions unless he wanted more problems in his hands. He'll just take care of this then get back to convincing Prussia to let him thrash something or someone for his sanity's sake.

But he was so not ready to hear his own voice cheerfully scream in his hear, "HEYA, ALLEN! LONG TIME NO SEE!"

America screamed, and _not_ like a girl mind you, unintentionally causing Prussia to flinch and adopt a fighting stance with his hand going for his sword, and for Romano to drop the plate and jump into Prussia's arms. America would've burst out laughing if he didn't almost have a heart attack.

America regained his balance before he could fall of the chair like an idiot, and he stammered, "Wha…. A-Alfred? Chops? That you?"

"Alfred?" Prussia echoed while he tried not to drop his 'boyfriend', heh.

"Lightner _bambino_?" Romano blinked with his shades all messed up.

"Course it is!" Alfred chirped, and the redhead felt a little stupid after asking that. As if Canada will ever sound that cheerful. "So, what's up? Been a while since I've crossed over."

Once he fully digested the fact that he's talking with his counterpart,

"Too long if ya ask me, I could've used some support here. Still, man, am I glad that you decided to come over," Allen said grumpily, and he loudly groaned, again, in annoyance. "Meetings and politics are a fucking pain in the ass…"

"Dude, you're telling me." Alfred snorted. "I've been getting shit over immigration again, dunno how much more I can take. But that's why I'm here."

"Figures. And thank fucking god, I really need to unwind…" Allen muttered in relief, maybe his twin's (no, not _that_ northern bastard) impossible amounts of optimism could help him calm down. "So, where are you right now? Which portal did you use?"

"NYC, meeting building. Where you at right now?"

"I'm at the old penthouse downtown." America replied, glancing at Prussia cursing in German while he tried to put Romano down. "Oh, and Gillen and Flavio are with me too. You mind if they tag along in our hangout?"

"You kidding? I'd love to see them again, dude!" Alfred said excitedly. "So you're not busy right now?"

America scoffed at that, and smirked. "Even if I was, Chops, I'd ditch it if it means I'll get some alone time with _you~_… plus Shining Armor and Zoolander here. If you're ditching work, then I don't see why I can't."

"Yeah, good point." Alfred laughed loudly. "This is awesome. You three gotta come over right now. I've got this awesome surprise for you guys."

America arched an eyebrow. "Surprise, huh? This isn't another alien that creepy buddy of yours brought from home, is it?"

"Nah, don't worry. It's got nothing to do with aliens." Alfred snickered, that bastard. "Sound cool?"

"Sounds great, blondie. So, the usual meeting place?"

"That okay with you?"

"I don't see why not."

"Great! We'll start going to Central Park. See ya, dude!"

We? "Hey, wait-"

Annnnnddd… Porkchop hanged up on him.

America smirked, and he turned to Prussia and Romano. "Guys, get your shit, cause we're going to Central Park."

/ / / / /

Meanwhile, back with the Light World America and Hungary…

_(__Deltarune OST: Hip Shop)_

America had to smile as he watched his new best buddy gawk at their surroundings after they left the building, as if she still couldn't believe this was real. Not that he blamed her, this was a pretty freaky, but freaky _cool_, experience. For all she knew, it could've all been special effects or something. Seeing the scary cool purple sky and not-blinding red sun (He _still_ hasn't figured out the science behind it) outside with her own skies finally must've finally confirmed that this wasn't a dream.

He thought back when he first found himself in this weird world, by accident no less. America would freak out at every little thing that was colored different, had a little breakdown when he discovered that Walt Disney still hasn't made a cartoon, and when he found about the Statue of Liberty situation in this world… Heh… eh, not really his best moment.

Maybe Hungary won't be so panicky. If anything happens, she'll just hit someone with a frying pan.

"This… is weird… but really pretty." Hungary remarked in awe. "I wonder how this place looks at night."

"Even prettier!" America piped up cheerfully. "And wait till you see Central Park!"

"Speaking of Central Park, how are we going to get there?" Hungary asked as she looked around. "That place shouldn't be THAT far, no? I'd suggest a taxi, but I'm worried what might happen if we use our world's money. I don't think it'd hurt to walk…."

"Hmm… not sure if that's a good idea, Lizzy." America pondered with a serious face as he tapped his foot. "We don't want to draw attention to ourselves."

Hungary gave an amused snort and gestured at their clothes. "Alfred, you're dressed like a modern cowboy and I look like I came from one of Japan's anime, I think people will stare no matter how we decide to travel."

"Psssh, don't be silly, Liz!" America waved dismissively. "This is New York! Unless we're naked, no one's going to give us a second glance."

Hungary's stifled a guffaw and covered her mouth… and was it just him, or was her face a little red? "Th-Then why do we need to keep a low profile?"

"Isn't it obvious, Liz?" America "There's already an America and Hungary here, and they're pretty well-known. If people see us, they'll wonder why their cranky leader and his buddy suddenly look and act different, they'll ask questions. So, we gotta avoid in staying around in public places for a long while."

"Oh, well, I guess as people from another dimension we should…" Hungary trailed off when she did a double take, and she gaped. "Wait. What do you mean they're 'well-known'?"

"Because in this world, people don't just know about us like in our place, they _know_ who 'we' are. And the nations here are the _leaders_ of their countries, they don't have bosses. We call the shots while the humans go along with it."

Hungary blanched, which was how America reacted when he found out about this. "…Seriously?"

"You know, that's actually what I said when Allen explained it to me."

"They… They rule their nations… just like that."

"Pretty much."

"And there's… like, no limit? No rulebook?"

"No limits. Their word is law. And it's real tough to overthrow them."

"That's... so…"

"Not fair!" They finished at the same time, and America offered a sympathetic smile as Hungary started to _rage_.

"Are you kidding me?! They get to rule and do whatever they want while _we_ obey whatever corrupt human we get stuck with?" Hungary snarled, face red with anger, then she calmed down for a moment. "I mean, my current boss is great and smart and all, but… So it's actually possible for us to rule without the humans there to influence us and burn our country to the ground? How come no one ever tried this back home?!"

"Okay, okay, I know you don't say 'calm down' to women, so I'm gonna say… please chillax, dude." America pleaded with a nervous smile, holding up his hands. "So what if we're stuck forever with our shitty system and our bosses? So what if the nations here get to live freely? Doesn't mean they're perfect or good leaders."

Thank Washington, Hungary stopped raging and then lowered her frying pan, frowning. "I… guess you're right. I can't imagine some of the nations back home being able to completely manage their countries."

"Yeah, that's right!" America beamed, glad that he got through to her. "I mean, can you imagine Italy running his country?"

"Oh dear no!" Hungary exclaimed. "The poor thing. And forget Italy, what about Romano? He'd end up slacking and ditching his work!"

"North Korea would probably say 'screw it' and nuke me at the first chance he got if he were in charge..."

"Poland would paint all the cities pink with sparkles and declare a national holiday for fabulousness…"

"Iran's bat-shit crazy and bipolar, he wouldn't do a much better job than his jerks for bosses..."

"And poor Moldova, I know he's older than he looks but he's a child. How would he do it?! Carlisle on Crack would end up doing all the hard work for him…"

"If Russia was in charge…"

They shuddered, and Hungary cringed. "…Maybe I overreacted."

"Yeah…" America muttered, and then he remembered they're supposed to be on their way to Central Park. "Oh! And as for the travel problem, the hero has just the solution!"

Hungary stared at him. "Hmm? Really?"

"Of course I do!" America grinned and took out a key from his pockets that he picked up from the supply closet. "We're going to travel badass-style!"

**And that's that! This was more of an exposition chapter, I know, but I wanted to explain the basic information of the 2P World, which in this story is the Dark World, and introduce the main 2Ps. More details will be explained eventually. Hopefully it won't take as long for me to get to the next chapter! Please review if you have a minute.**

**Oh, and this is what Hungary looks like in the Dark World:zerochan /929585  
**


	3. The Park of Hopes and Dreams

**Thanks to Redbayly, Kramburg, NekoraNeko709 and NadiaJA627 for reviewing! Heh... sorry for being late... again... but I've been busy and I'm sure that the next update will be sooner! I hope this chapter makes up for it! Now, on with the show!**

_Meanwhile, in the Light World…_

_(Deltarune OST: School)_

Taiwan didn't even care how silly, childish or overdramatic she probably (maybe) looked right now, she kept loudly wailing and screaming enough to shatter all the windows in the building as she kept her face buried in Australia's koala… And America was right, it did smell like mud, poop, and chalk.

Ewwww…

Oh, Taiwan didn't care! She's too depressed to scream in disgust and throw the koala at Australia's face.

Speaking of America, Taiwan froze up, and then ended up crying even harder than before. Oh, it's not fair! Why did Taiwan's life had to be so unfair? Okay, maybe that's life for nations and there's nations who were going through stuff than her right now, but this was just ridiculous! She felt miserable, dejected, whatever! And she just couldn't take any more of the usual crap in her life today…

Especially when she was really looking forward to hanging out with America today after enduring the old man's usual rants and demands for her to stop trying to become a completely independent nation again! That, and today she once again tried appealing (begging) other nations to recognize her. And as usual, her dreams were crushed (this time even harder), and America ran off with Hungary of all people to who-knows-where!

Since when did they decide to be great friends and chase Australia and New Zealand through the halls to use to their pets to vent out their frustrations? Since when did America allow Hungary to tow him away? Aside from feeling flat-out depressed and disappointed, Taiwan's feeling confused!

Surely this couldn't mean…

No, no, stupid Taiwan! What did your boss say about jumping to conclusions?

Oh… Well, at least Australia offered to let her borrow his koala… And speaking of Australia, Taiwan vaguely heard him remark:

"Wow… That Sheila's more down under than our countries, Zea!"

Was that supposed to be a joke?

Wait…

Why was she doing this? Why was she just standing there crying into the what must be the most foul-smelling koala known to man? Seriously, Australia? Chalk? Honestly, sometimes you make South Korea look like a genius. But anyway, what the heck was she doing? This was pathetic of her!

Finally, she got her face out of the koala, who was surprisingly asleep despite her loud wailing, and with a determined gaze she shoved the animal into Australia's chest. Yeah, why was she wasting her time here crying for her small chances of being acknowledged as a real nation when America's out there, waiting for her!

"No…" Taiwan muttered, and she shook her head vehemently. "I'm not going to give up and throw a tantrum and the towel just because as something as small as this! So what if this day didn't go the way I wanted? I've been through worse… so… _so much worse_… I didn't get this far by moping around!"

"Uh… You think she's talking us, Zea?"

"I'm not quite sure."

"Yeah, that's right…" Taiwan encouragingly to herself, ignoring the other two. "I'm gonna go out, find Ally, use my cute charms to convince to hang out with me, give me some more weapons and maybe a couple of nuclear missiles, and once again try to have him recognize me as a nation!"

"You know, I think she's monologuing out loud to herself, maybe."

"I think you might be right…"

"TAIWAN, WHERE ARE YOU, ARU?!"

Taiwan froze mid-dramatic step, and she paled. Oh god, that shitty old fart was up already? Shouldn't he have a concussion or something?

"Uh-oh…" Taiwan blinked, and she looked around frantically. "I... really better skedaddle."

Not wasting time, she made a run for it for the door just as it opened to reveal a seriously pissed-off China.

He gave her that angry old man face. "Taiwan, you-"

"Tell it to someone who cares, you shitty old fart!" Taiwan snarled as she whooshed past him, pushing him aside in the process, and, hearing screech as he fell face-first to the ground while she ran like her life depended on it out of the room and into the halls,

Now… where did they go?

Taiwan felt a little stupid for not realizing sooner that she had no idea where those two went off to.

Well, wherever they were, it shouldn't be too hard for her to find them, right?

/ / / / /

_Meanwhile, back at the Dark World…_

_(Pokémon Black and White OST: Castelia City)_

"Flavio, for fuck's sake, stop staring at the shops with sales like a fucking idiot and focus on the road!" America growled with his fingers twitching from the passenger's seat, once again cursing the fact that he wasn't allowed to bring his sweet bat. "We don't have time for your stupid shopping sprees! And we're gonna be late if you don't move it or lose it!"

"But there's a fifty percent discount today at…" Romano trailed off, and America groaned when he saw his 'brother's' eyes sparkle. "Ooh, are those shoes on sale?"

"Who cares if there's… Hey, that leather jacket's not half-bad..." America said distractedly as they passed another shop, then he shook his head vehemently. "W-Wait, no! NO! Just drive, Flavio! You can go max your shitty brother's shitty credit card later!"

"But maybe we can buy a present for Alfredo in one of the shops!" Romano suggested hopefully, but the redhead's not having any of it.

"No way, Jose! I'm not gonna waste my time waiting in an uncomfortable chair listening to shitty Spotify music while you try on a gazillion outfits!" America snarled in disgust. "Besides, you know Chops can only wear his default cowboy clothes here!"

"Si, but you know that he can bring items back to his world!"

"I don't care. We're not going!"

Prussia sighed for the thousandth from the seat next to Romano. "You two, please, calm down. Allen, I understand your impatience, but that's no excuse to behave so disrespectfully. And Flavio, I know you want to go shopping, as you always do, but you can go _after_ we visit Alfred."

Romano's curl drooped, and he whimpered. "I really want those shoes…"

"And you'll have them. Just be patient." Prussia reassured him calmly.

"Why the hell did Flavio have to be the driver? I don't get why I can't drive! I'm freaking nineteen!" America said angrily. "In fact, why couldn't _you_ drive, Gil?"

"Because you forbid me from doing so, saying that I'll take _forever_ driving and you even said that you'd rather have Flavio as the driver." Prussia deadpanned with his usual exasperated face. "And I don't think I even need to explain why _you_ can't drive, especially with your Lightner counterpart involved."

America opened his mouth to retort "Huh, you're right. I did say that."

"So does that mean we can go shopping?" Romano's eyes glimmered in hope.

"Oh, hell no!" America shot him down, much to Romano's dismay. "Just turn left already, Flavio. We're like a minute away from Central Park. Punch it so we can be there at the bridge when Al gets there!"

/ / / / /

_(Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed OST: Graffiti City)_

Hungary had never been on a motorcycle before, and honestly, she didn't really know if that was a fact she should be embarrassed about considering her long life and her creative ways to severely injure Prussia for being Prussia, but she brightened up when she saw America come back from getting their ride into the city with just that, a _motorcycle_.

He looked so… so…

After stifling a giggle and trying terribly not to look like she wanted to smile stupidly or laugh at him because of how… erm… he looked, (God, why did he have to be so…) she asked him why did he have a motorcycle parked here and where he got the keys? America simply smiled and said that years ago Allen, his 'dark' counterpart, decided to leave a motorcycle here, which was apparently named 'Roxy'…

Admittedly, Hungary didn't even find that weird or dumb. First, she's… pretty weird too. Some might even say batshit crazy (you might hear this from a certain Prussian or Diet Twilight character, in fact…). And she remembered a period of her life when she started naming her frying pans for… some reason…

A-Anyway, this Allen left a motorcycle and the keys to it in the supply closet from where Hungary and America ended up here in the first place so he, and America quoted 'Wouldn't have to go through the same crap of trying to find a ride over and over again or have those damn gossipy taxi drivers think that he (Allen) dyed his hair'.

Hmm, sounded very reasonable…

So, America was right, they were going to travel 'badass style'. And when he flashed his trademark grin, threw a helmet into her hands and said, and in a very cheesy manner 'You ready for the ride of your life, darlin?' Hungary knew she was in for a _ride_.

And of course, she was right.

Now, in the present, she held onto America with her arms wrapped around him as she gawked at her surroundings, her very _bright_ surroundings, while trying not to burst out laughing in absolute glee every time America suddenly blasted off again or dangerously swerved to one side. Who knew riding with America could be this much fun?

Alright, a part of her's amazed how they haven't crashed into anything or run over anyone with America's insane driving, but he wouldn't be so reckless if he wasn't confident that he wouldn't hit any pedestrians, right?

Besides, it's hard to focus on that when you have these surroundings. Hungary's surprised her head hasn't fallen off with quickly she was moving it around as she stared at her surroundings with perhaps too much amazement. But everything was just so bright and colorful, and, gosh, Hungary didn't even know where to start…

The red sun, which Hungary's _still_ having trouble getting over, loomed overheard as Times Square was alive with bright advertisements and billboards illuminating the streets and people buzzing about crowding the streets, just like back in their world, but just like the sky, it's different. She didn't think she recognized a lot of the names or brands they showed for one, but she wasn't sure if that's just her.

And then there's the fact that a lot of boards, jumbotrons and stuff had… well, some of the colors were a bit… off… though not all of them were like that. She saw a lot of blue, purple, red, magenta, indigo, etc. It's… kind of hard to describe, really. In fact, she recently realized that most of the lights seen in the windows of the many, many buildings and skyscrapers were either white or blue.

Was that a trend or a thing here?

Weirdness aside, this place looked really impressive!

"Liking the sights, Liz?" America called over when they stopped on a red right and the humans started crossing.

"Yes, but a lot of the colors seem to be different!" Hungary said loudly over the sounds of the other cars and the rest of the noise in the city. "I think I remember seeing more different colors in the advertisements in the other Times Square."

America shrugged, and Hungary just knew that he was smiling. "Yeah, don't worry, it's not just you. Remember, it's not called the Dark World for nothing. Still, you gotta give them props for making it look so cool!"

Hungary nodded, and she glanced at a colorful billboard for…_ G.I. Joe the Musical?_ She felt her mouth twitch, and she laughed. "Couldn't agree more."

"You'll see that the colors might be kinda 'off' or somethin' in a lotta places here, including Central Park." America added helpfully but cryptically, then he snickered. "Boy, I can't wait to see the look on your face when you see it, Liz! You're gonna love it!"

Hungary smiled, learning more and more to trust America. "I think I will, Alfred. So, how long until we reach Central Park?"

"We should be there in about five or seven minutes, Liz!" America answered excitedly, and boy, was he excited. "I'm sure Allen's already-

He stopped himself when the traffic light changed.

"Ooh, green light!" The engine roared as America laughed wildly. "Here we gooooo!"

And so, they blasted off again, no, literally, they flew for a few seconds before they landed at the ground again, somehow without crashing the bike or killing anyone. Hungary had honestly gotten used to it already, especially since she's also a crazy driver. This was _nothing_.

They sped through the speeds, along with waiting at the traffic lights before blasting off again and avoiding running over crowds of pedestrians. Hungary just held on tight and kept admiring her surroundings until suddenly America spoke.

"We're here!" He cheerfully announced as he pulled over near a sidewalk.

For what felt like the hundredth time today, Hungary's jaw dropped.

A-America told her that the colors here might be off, but Hungary wasn't expecting this! W-Well, she probably should've expected it, but it still shocked her! A purple sky and a red sun were one thing, b-but this… this was even weirder! T-The trees, the grass, the flowers on the tress and the grass, and even the road…

They're all in different colors!

Hungary stared at it all wide-eyed, trying to digest it. She saw that the grass was purple, and maybe a cerulean blue in some parts in the distance. The leaves on the trees were a pretty combination of red and magenta, with the tree trunk being a darker shade of brown, almost black. The road, the pavement, it was blue. Everything looked so odd like that, but so beautiful at the same time.

Huh… Well, what do you know? Hungary smiled wryly at the park. The grass and trees had different colors here, she should've figured. Why did she have a feeling that this was just the tip of the iceberg?

"Ha, told ya that the colors were different here!" America chirped from in front of her, obviously grinning from behind his helmet. "Freaked the heck outta me when I first saw it too. Makes you feel like you're in some fantasy land or a videogame, huh? Pfft…! Man, your face is…!"

America chuckled, and Hungary's eye twitched as she crossed her arms. "Oh, well excuse me for being shocked at… at this!"

"Hey, hey, I'm just joking around, dude." America chuckled, holding his hands up in surrender. "It's really pretty, don't ya think, Liz?"

"Yes, yes, it is." Very pretty indeed.

"Yeah… Well, come on! Let's get going! Allen's not a patient guy!" America laughed as he got off the bike. He took off his helmet, freeing his longer hair, and he immediately spluttered as his hair got in his mouth and eyes. Hungary couldn't help but giggle at his expense. "Pff- blah! Oh, come on! I- Ugh, this is why I don't let my hair grow out!"

"I think your long hair's very cute, America." Hungary commented with a big grin as she removed her helmet, and she straightened her own hair. "You look like one of those cute surfer men you can find in your country."

Hungary wasn't sure where the 'cute' compliment came from, but she didn't regret it one bit, especially when she saw America blush red.

America blushed red, and he swiftly pulled his cowboy hat from nowhere as he placed it on his head. It wasn't often that he got flustered. "But I'm not a surfer dude, I'm a cowboy! Surfer dudes don't get on horses and ride off to the sunset or get played by Chuck Norris!"

Hungary snorted as he saw him childishly puff his cheeks. "Oh, it's not that bad, Alfred. You can still be a cowboy with that cute longer hair of yours."

America considered this as he stroked his chin. "Well, there are cowboys who rock the longer hair look…. Oh, like Erron Black from the Mortal Kombat games! Love that guy. Or even better, John Marston from Red Dead Redemption! Awesome game with a just as awesome protagonist. He's a badass! Let me explain, John Marston is a dude who back in his younger years was a…"

Hungary's eye twitched, again, as America started going on a long-winded explanation about why this John Marston was one of the greatest videogame characters of all time and better than Red Dead Redemption 2's protagonist Arthur Morgan, although America also started to then point all the good points about that character, and somehow this culminated into a debate with himself over which game was better.

He's debating _himself_.

Hungary didn't know if she found America's habit of going into long-winded explanations and analysis of why this franchise, series or character was great or whatever annoying or endearing. Right she was leaning a little towards annoying, because while Hungary did appreciate talking about these things every now and then, they were kind of in a hurry.

This kind of reminded her of Poland's debates over which clothing store was more fabulous or whether he should dye his ponies' mane pink, to be honest.

"Alfred…" Hungary called gently.

"But then again, GTA had pretty much same thing where you can just straight-up murder people whenever you want. And I'd be lying if I didn't… maybe… I dunno, shoot a couple of jerks in my really bad days. It's actually pretty good for unwinding…"

"Alfred."

"…It's kind of morbid, totally not heroic, and maybe kinda cruel, but if you ask me, I think the developers made the suffragette annoying on purpose."

"ALFRED!"

"Yeah, dude?" America asked, blinked.

Glad that she finally interrupted him from his fanatic rambling, Hungary smiled indulgently. "While I'm sure that those characters and games are as great as you say you are, and as much as I'd like you to hear explain it in extremely long detail, I think you're forgetting that there's a certain impatiently someone waiting for us.."

America blinked, and when he seemed to have got it, he paled in horror. "Oh my gosh, you're right! We're gonna be late!"

Suddenly he grabbed Hungary's hand, to her surprise and for some reason _delight_, and America grinned as he pulled her along as he started to go into the park. Hungary wasn't able to utter out a protest from her mouth before she found herself running to not trip and to keep up with America, who just laughed.

"Come on, Liz! Adventure awaits!" America cheered eagerly, pumping his fist in the air.

_(Deltarune OST: The Field of Hopes and Dreams)_

Hungary's brief moment of panic and slight displeasure at being pulled along for the ride vanished once they got, and she marveled at the weird but familiar environment now that she got a better look at it, and wow, it really was beautiful.

It helped that America started to slow down, and she saw him smiling fondly with his free hand on his cowboy hat. Even he couldn't help but stop and admire the weirdness of it all, though he's probably been here many times before.

She had to freeze for a moment when she heard leaves crunching under her boots, and Hungary's eye widened when she saw the red/pink leaved scattered all over the ground. Seeing leaves with those colors was still a little surreal, like with the whole sky and sun thing, but it helped hearing them crunch or fly with the wind, it once again confirmed to her that this was not a dream.

But she was still a little puzzled when they passed a few flowers and those flowers were… unusually colored as far as she saw. Figures. Flowers came in tons of colors. What could this world have? Black roses, blue daises or red sunflowers?

Hungary snorted to herself, but then she scrunched up her face. You know what? That last one would probably make sense…

Looking at all this, Hungary had to wonder what the fields and flowers were like in this world's Hungary. She didn't hide the fact she took great pride in her beautifully preserved natural landscapes, and her amazing national parks. If this Hungary was as much as a 'sweetheart' as America said she was, she paused for a moment to grip America's hand tightly, then she should trust that 'Dark World Hungary' put as much effort into preserving the nature of their country as she did?

Before she could delve deeper into that thought, Hungary was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts when suddenly America exclaimed 'oh shit!' and hastily pushed her behind a tree with him following suit.

Hungary yelped, and she looked at America, demanding an explanation. "Alfred, what the-"

"Shhh!" America shushed, finger to his lips. He looked panicked. "Do you want them to hear us?"

"Who?" Hungary asked, and when America turned around to spy from the tree instead of her answering her, she narrowed her eyes and she peeked out to see what he's looking at. When she did, she saw a few groups of humans pass by.

She stared at America with a raised eyebrow, and when he finally looked at her, he blanched.

"Hey, don't you remember what I told you, Liz?" America exclaimed defensively, anxiously pushing up his glasses. "We can't let the humans here see us! That's a big no-no! So, we gotta be careful and stay out of sight as much as we can."

Hungary recalled the conversation she had, and suddenly she felt stupid for not realizing it sooner. "Oh… right."

America nodded and went back to keeping an eye out for the humans until they all left while Hungary was left feeling… a little uncomfortable. So, she decided to spend the time by looking around and once again testing to see for herself if the red sun can't harm your eyes.

Turns out that it can't.

Wonder what's the science behind that?

The two of them waited in what Hungary guessed was awkward silence.

"So, how you liking it so far, Liz?" America suddenly asked her, looking back at her curiously. Guess he got tired of it.

Hungary was a little surprised by the question, but she answered honestly, smiling gently. "Well… I think this place is beautiful. I mean, I've never seen anything like it, obviously. Not that your Central Park isn't beautiful too, it's just that-"

"Dude, don't worry, I get it." America chuckled. "This place is awesome, but my place is also awesome in its own special way is what you're getting at, right?"

"Yes, exactly!" Hungary nodded, glad he understood. "And I think… I'm really going to like this place."

"Yeah, you bet you will!" America said confidently, and suddenly he smirked, which admittedly took Hungary aback. "Especially when you see my _other_ surprise… You know, cause Allen's the first surprise. But wait, does he really count as a surprise anymore now that I told ya about him? Well, guess there's still his attitude and personality to-"

"What other surprise?" Hungary asked sharply, making sure to interrupt him before he could start going off-topic again.

"Sorry, no spoilers…" America winked, snickering.

Hungary deflated, and she pouted. "You can't be serious…"

"Hey, it won't be a surprise if I tell you all about it." America laughed sheepishly.

"This isn't going to become a habit of yours, is it?" Hungary asked, raising an amused eyebrow. She felt a little annoyed, but she wanted to laugh at the same time. America tended to do that a lot.

"Aw, come on, don't get all grumpy over something like that. That's England's job!"

Speaking of that grumpy old Englishman…

"What do you think England, Germany and the others are doing back at our world, anyway?" Hungary asked with a sly grin, nudging him in the shoulder. "I bet they're freaking out getting their panties in a twist because they can't find us and give us an earful, huh?"

And punish her for provoking them earlier, Hungary mentally added proudly.

That made him grin from ear to ear. America laughed, though a bit more quietly than usual, and he sat down on the purple grass. "You kidding? I can already hear Artie screaming 'you bloody wanker!' in my ear for three hours straight. And boy, when everyone finds out that we've gone AWOL when the break's over…"

"It's going to be hell." Hungary finished with a couple of giggling, and she sat down next to him. "You know, I don't think anyone would ever admit it, but I think the meetings are even more chaotic when you're not around to present your 'marvelous' ideas."

"Hey, my ideas are genius!" America exclaimed upsettably, and Hungary snorted. "Seriously! And my latest idea would've totally solved global warming and the 'taking care of the scattered members of ISIS' too! I'll just have Tony and his galaxy buddies make a black hole that'll suck up all the heat trapped in the atmosphere, China's stinky air, and all the remaining ISIS members! Pretty clever, am I right?

Hungary stared at him in utter shock for a moment before she broke into a trembling smile. She struggled not to giggle. "A… black hole… that can suck up all the heat, dirty air, and ISIS members? Made by your alien friend?"

"Tony, yeah!" America nodded, just beaming in pride. "And his alien buddies too! Zim, Garbog, Marvin, Meap, Stich, Chad from accounting, and Fox the Dog! They're a great team!"

"Fox the Dog…?" Hungary repeated in bafflement, then shook her head. "No, nevermind. So, they can really do that? Make a black hole that can only suck some incredibly specific things and nothing else?""

"Yeah! There's been tons of advances in blackhole and wormhole technology in the planets of the East Milky Way!" America claimed as if it was supposed to be common knowledge "It's the latest craze for aliens to literally get rid of their problems!"

That's… a little scary, to be honest.

"And you're sure it wouldn't accidentally suck up the moon or the Earth in the process?" Hungary asked skeptically.

"Aw, don't worry. Tony says there's only a _ten_ percent chance of that happening." America chirped, as if that guaranteed that nothing wouldn't go horribly wrong.

"Oh…" Well, chances of the Earth getting destroyed aside, that's actually a pretty good plan!

Hungary wondered if those aliens could also make a black hole that could only suck up whiny European hypocrites and barbaric Muslim immigrants.

"Is stuff really that much worse without me around?" America asked, snapping Hungary out of her very vivid imagination. "I kinda figured that without me, you know… being me, things would be more chill and stuff, dude."

"Trust me, it's unbelievably worse. Without you introducing your ideas, things fall apart much more quickly." Hungary said gravely, and then she frowned. "Poor Feliks… I feel bad for abandoning him like that. I hope he'll have Lithuania to hang out with while I'm gone."

"And I hope he can annoy the commie for me too…" America said hopefully, and then his face scrunched up in distaste. "Boy, I hope that Russian bastard doesn't sit on Canada again."

"Who?" Hungary asked, puzzled.

"Eh, no one important… I think." Why did his smile look strained?

"Oh… So… Where are we meeting the other you, again?" Hungary decided to ask, wanting to change the topic.

"Right at the Bow Bridge, it shouldn't be that far from here." America told her quickly, and he flashed a blinding grin. "How do I know this? Because the hero here has spent years memorizing every inch of Central Park, and it helps that it's pretty much identical to _my_ Central Park except for the colors."

"Very… impressive…" Hungary complimented, chuckling a bit. "And there won't be any humans at the bridge?"

"Not a lot of people go over there, much less stay more than a few minutes. So, it's totes one of the best places for a secret meeting!" America chirped, and he peeked out from behind the tree again. "Okay, I think the coast is clear. You ready get going again?"

"If you are."

"Then let's go! Allen's prolly getting impatient."

They continued their way to the meeting place, and Hungary found herself getting dragged by America once again, but she really didn't have any complaints about it.

Eventually they did arrive at a lake and there was a long, large, and quite beautifully adorned white bridge for them to cross. This must be the place. America abruptly topped in his tracks, accidentally causing Hungary to bump into him from behind in the process. She winced, but she quickly saw that he didn't seem to notice, as he was too busy grinning at the horizon.

"Hey, look! Look over there, Liz!" America exclaimed, pointing at three figures standing on the bridge. "That's him! The handsome dude with red hair!"

Hungary squinted her eyes. It's hard to make them out from this distance, but she did spot a redhead. "Oh, your counterpart has red hair. Is that also a thing here?"

America, in his excitement, apparently didn't listen, and he began pulling her again. "Come on, let's go meet him!"

Okay… So, it's time to meet the other America… Honestly, Hungary wasn't sure if she should be nervous or… No, no, of course not. If she could handle Prussia and the Castlevania wannabe for centuries, then she could handle anything! Besides, there's her trusty frying pan if anything went wrong… But she'll try not to, for her America's sake.

"HEY, ALLEN!" America yelled deafeningly.

_(Deltarune OST: Friendship)_

Now that got the three's attention, and the redhead, the most visible and the closest one to them, jumped and whirled around, and Hungary gasped. She couldn't believe… America's face was staring right back at them.

It wasn't even like with America's twin brother, whatever his name was, this doppelgänger looked more like America than his own twin brother! Now that was saying something. They had the exact same face… but just like this world, it's still different. The other America, Allen, had the same longer and slightly wild hair that reached past his chin and barely touched his shoulders as America had when he arrived here, but…

Like America said before, Allen had red hair that almost looked brown in this dark place. Hungary saw that his eyes were blood red instead of sky blue, and they looked colder, almost angrier. His skin was slightly darker, oh, and he also had shades perched on his head. And while America was a cowboy, Allen looked like a sort of punk. He wore a dark brown jacket with rolled up sleeves over a black shirt that seemed to have the Batman insignia, and black sneakers.

This was… amazing. Hungary felt her lips twitch into an awed smile. And not to mention she felt pretty excited… Why? Oh, who cares? She'd never seen anything like this, except for the twins, but this another thing!

And now that they were getting closer, Hungary got a better look at the other two. They were men, and…

And…

No… way…

Hungary could only let America keep dragging her along behind him as her mind went blank and she felt her mouth drop in utter shock once again for the thousandth time today, and for a moment she wondered if she was imagining it. No, no, no… Why… This can't be… But then she remembered where she was and what America told her, but it didn't really help.

When America had told her about the 'this world has different versions of us' thing, she was already ready for meeting another, and very different, America, but nothing told her to prepare her for this! Was this supposed to be his surprise! Because, hell, was Hungary surprised. She was surprised, shocked, aghast, astounded, astonished, stunned, flabbergasted and all of the above!

She just couldn't believe her eyes. It's… It's…

Prussia! It was Prussia! It was Prussia, but it's not, and _why the hell_ was he dressed like a priest?! With a cross over his neck and everything and she was pretty sure she's seeing a couple of Teutonic Order cross symbols on his… white… shoulder, oh, whatever it was called! Oh, and he wasn't smirking. Now that's a welcome change…

And with them was also… Italy? No, the face looked a little off… Romano?! That guy with blond hair, the oddly patterned t-shirt, designer jeans and gay pink scarf and sunglasses was Romano's counterpart?!

This world's… _weird_.

As they Allen spotted America and his face broke into a big smirk.

"Hey, hey, Al! What's…" He trailed off when his gaze went to Hungary, and his smirk was promptly replaced with a look of shock. "…huh…?"

Oh dear, America didn't tell him about…

Hungary, not really sure how to react to that, offered a friendly enough smile and an awkward wave to the redheaded America, who still stared at her shock. Then she began to feel slightly panicked when Other Prussia and Other Romano came into view, wearing the same shocked expressions as Allen.

"Um, uh…" Hungary stumbled on her words a little before she forced herself to get her act together. "Hello… I'm Hungary, although you probably already… heh… I'm normally very good at introducing myself to people, really…"

Except when they're basically carbon copies of people she knew for centuries.

"I-I-I… I…" Allen stuttered for what had to be an embarrassingly long time, and he slapped himself before he gawked at her. "_Erszi?_"

Hungary blinked. Her counterpart's name? "Uh, no. I'm…"

"Mio Dio, what happened to you, Erszi?" Other Romano exclaimed in horror. "I thought you were never going to abandon the color pink! And that top so doesn't go with that skirt! Did your near-impeccable fashion sense just up and vanish? What happened to the Hungary I know and love?"

"Hey, I like this outfit!" Hungary barked angrily.

"I can't believe this…" Other Prussia muttered in disbelief as he walked over to her, his voice lacking the usual arrogance and cheer Light World Prussia had. Hungary noticed that his face had several scars. He shakily reached out a hand. "You… Your face… even that glimmer in your eyes… it's just like Hungary's…"

Feeling a little uncomfortable, Hungary took a wary step back. Thankfully, Prussia got the message and lowered his hand, a guilty look on his face that actually made Hungary feel bad.

"But you're not her, are you?" Other Prussia said grimly, narrowing his eyes at her. "Different hair and eye color, not to mention that she wouldn't wear something that so… unfeminine…"

Did… Hungary even want to know?

"Surprise!" America happily shouted, causing Hungary to jump, and he wrapped an arm around her. "I told ya that I had something I wanted to show you guys and here she is! Meet the Light World Hungary, or as she's also known: Elizaveta Héderváry! Let me tell ya, she's a riot!"

He laughed, oblivious to the atmosphere as always. Luckily, that little explanation seemed to calm them down…

"I should've known our dear Erszi wouldn't wear such a horrible combination." Other Romano said fondly, and he smiles charmingly at her "I apologize for the misunderstanding, bella!"

Hungary wasn't impressed. Why did she have the feeling that she's not going to like him very much?

"Remarkable... So this is Erszi's..." Prussia said in awe, and he became a little flustered. "O-Oh, forgive me, I should've known. It's just that... you're only second Lightner we've ever met, the first being Alfred here of course."

Huh… On the other hand, she'll definitely like this alternate Prussia.

"Light World, huh? Figures…" America grumbles, then he did a double-take, and he exploded. "Wait, WHAT?! You brought someone from the Lightner World with you?! Why?! I thought you said, and that we fucking agreed that's it for the best, that you were never ever gonna bring one of the little shits from your place to this world!"

Little shits? Hungary scowled at him. Why, she oughta-

"I know what I said, Allen, and what I said, but you gotta trust me on this…" America gave his best smile, and hugged Hungary close. She couldn't help but smile. "Hungary here's a good friend. I trust her, and she trusted me enough to go into a dark and scary closet. She also said that she wouldn't tattle, and I believe her just like I believed in Washington!"

Hungary felt her face burn a little. Oh, well, that's...

"Of course that's what _she_ says…" Allen scoffed, and he glared suspiciously at Hungary. "You're too nice, Chops, that's what. You can't trust any of these human whoring Lightners to keep their mouths shut! They're not like you, Al. In the end, all they care about is-"

_"Allen!"_ Other Prussia hissed disapprovingly.

"Language!" Other Romano piped up.

"And what do you know about our world?" Hungary snapped, having enough of being unintentionally or intentionally insulted. "And it's not like the others would believe me even if I told them that 'hey, did you all know there's another world in the supply closet upstairs?'."

"More than enough from what Chops told me." Allen growled. "And that's no fucking excuse. I've seen enough of you Lightner clods to know that-"

"Hey!" America shouted, surprising everyone present, and Hungary flinched at the angry look on his face. "Come on, Allen, we've talked about this! I'm not as stupid as I look and you know I wouldn't share this big secret with someone if I wasn't sure I could trust them! Liz wouldn't rat us out, she's better than that! I brought her here because she's going through as much shit as I am these days, and I wanted her to be happy like I am when I'm with you guys!"

Hungary won't lie, she felt a small surge of pleasure at seeing America defend her like that.

But somehow, this made Allen even angrier. "You brought the Erszi knockoff here because of pity? Oh, you gotta be kidding me! See, this is what I'm telling you, Alfred. You're just too nice for your own-"

"I brought her here because I wanted her to be happy. We get each other, y'know? And I knew that bringing her here would cheer her up, and I wanted to share the fun of this world with her! What's wrong with helping an awesome friend in distress?

"What's _wrong_ with it? You-"

"Allen, if I may… interject…" Other Prussia spoke up, briefly giving a reprimanding look at Allen. "I think we should trust Alfred's decision or at least get to know Miss Elizaveta before we jump to such rash conclusions, don't you think? You should know, how much the secret of our world means to him. Sharing it with someone else couldn't have been easy."

"I agree with Gillen." Other Romano said firmly with his arms crossed. "And in the end, it's Alfredo who decides who he brings to this world. I understand your need to be a, how you say, mother hen for your dear friend…"

"I am _not_ a fucking mother hen!" Allen squawked angrily.

"You kinda are, dude." America pointed out with a nervous smile.

"…But as you often like to rudely yell to me, Alfredo is an adult too." Other Romano said gently. It's really off-putting to see him so calm and… happy. "And you also forget that he is smarter than he looks, sometimes even more than you, in fact!"

"And you wonder why I still ended up cranky…" Allen grumbled.

"See? They get it!" America said with a victorious smile, much to Allen's chagrin. "Besides, how can you stay mad at this pretty face? It's Erszi's face too, you know."

'Pretty face?' Hungary blinked.

"Because. That's. Not. _Her_." Allen growled through gritted teeth.

"Aw, come on, Allen. Be nice to her, pretty pwease?"

"Ohohohoho hell no, don't you _'pwease' _me, Chops. And you better not- oh no…"

What happened next nearly caused Hungary to either barrel over in laughter or coo at the cuteness of the sight, because America started giving Allen what had to be the greatest and most powerful puppy dog look Hungary had ever seen.

Allen's scowl began to crumble but he was obviously stubbornly trying not to let it show that he was losing… badly.

"Try giving him the sweetest, kindest, cutest smile you can muster." America whispered mischievously as he leaned close, and he snickered. "He's got a huge soft spot for your counterpart, so this oughta win him over."

Hungary grinned and nodded, liking the idea. It helped that she had experienced with that sort of thing. She remembered all the times she got Austria to stop being mad at her or lashing out at Italy with her smiles. Even with a stubborn guy like Allen, it shouldn't be too hard, especially with Alfred's puppy dog look. Turning to Allen, she gave the sweetest, kindest, cutest smile she could.

It seemed to be working. Allen was trembling now. To make matters worse for him, Other Romano was also giving him a similar look (except that it looked more weird than cute on Romano's face of all people) and Other Prussia was giving a stern glare that might give Germany's a run for his money.

Surely enough, Allen groaned loudly and threw his hands up in frustration.

"_Fine_… I won't be a bitch about it." Allen growled grudgingly, likely at conceding defeat more than anything.

"YAY!" America jumped in glee, and to Hungary's surprise, he ran up and hugged Allen. "You're the best, Allen!"

Allen scoffed, and returned the hug with a dark blush on his cheeks. "Yeah, you bet your ass I am. I'm _still_ keeping an eye on her, though."

"Sure you will…" America laughed as if he didn't take Allen's words seriously, and he pushed Allen towards Hungary. "Now come on, you two, go introduce yourselves!"

Allen looked like he really didn't want to, but after staring at Hungary for a while, his expression suddenly softened, and he reached out a gloved hand. "Sup? I'm Allen, the cool one. And you better fucking believe me when I say you won't find anyone as badass as me in this shitty world!"

Hungary only gave him a deadpan stare, but she shook his hand. "Elizaveta Héderváry…"

America was friends with _him?!_

"I am Prussia, as you might already know, but you may call me Gillen." Other Prussia stated politely with a small smile. "It is nice to meet you. I'm glad to see that you are just kind as our Hungary, and I hope we will become good friends."

Hungary could only gape at him "O-Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that, my world's Prussia…"

"No need. Alfred already explained how… difficult my Lightner self can be." Gillen assured her with an apologetic smile. "I am… very sorry for any and all trouble he has caused you. Please don't hold it against me."

Okay, Hungary had to smile. "No worries. I like you already."

"Yeah, Gillen here's a hell lot cooler than that washed-up has-been!" Allen barked, smirking proudly. "Unlike that loser, Gil here's still a nation, and he's got a lot more land! And he's one of the most powerful countries in Europe!"

Hungary's jaw dropped, _again_ (how many more times will this happen today?), and she looked at Gillen in shock, who only slightly blushed at that statement. The country of Prussia still existed in this world?! How was that possible?! And boy, imagine how her Prussia would react if he ever found out about this…

"Hey, that's kinda mean, Allen." America pouted, crossing his arms angrily. "Gilbert can be cool! Even now that he's not a nation anymore, he's a great friend!"

Allen scoffed. "Sure, keep telling yourself that…"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Hungary shouted before this could evolve into an argument, and she pointed an accusatory finger at Gillen. "You're still a nation?! Were you never dissolved at the end of the Second World War and became East Germany? But how…?

"It's… Well, you'll find that the history of this world is quite different from the one in your world." Prussia explained calmly, scratching the back of his head. "I assume this is the result when you have the nations in charge with personalities vastly different from the ones you know. In this world, I never joined my brother in any quest for world dominance."

"And my brother and I never supported fascism, never knew who this Mussolini was until Alfredo mentioned him in fact!" Other Romano chirped with a wide smile, which then faltered for a moment. "Although, I guess he practically is a fascist in a way… Oh, where are my manners? My name is Flavio, the fabulous personification of South Italy! It's nice to meet you, bella!"

Fabulous? Oh gosh… Hungary's eyes widened. He's practically Poland… Oh, well, on the bright side, at least Hungary now had an idea of how to deal with him.

She smiled, trying not to giggle. "It's nice to meet you too."

"Yeah, yeah, everyone's getting along and happy and shit" Allen bared his teeth, still unhappy for some reason. "Can we go thrash some tourists and Canadians now?"

"Aw, come on, Allen, cheer up a little." America kindly suggested, only to receive a scoff in response. This made him frown. "Geez, did something happen, dude? You're not usually this cranky, you know…"

_(Deltarune OST: THE HOLY)_

Allen's eyes widened, and his face became pained as he glanced at Gillen and Flavio, who both also looked a little nervous and at a loss as to what to say.

"What?" America demanded, reading the atmosphere for once, and he paled. "Wait, you mean something did happen?"

"Should we tell him?"

"No way. I don't want to worry Alfred."

"I think it's too late for that, bambino…"

"What?!" America looked at them angrily. "Seriosuly, what's the deal? I'm not a kid!"

The three shared one more uncertain glance with each other before Prussia cleared his throat, looking grim. "I'm… sorry… but I'm afraid you and Miss Elizaveta came to the Dark World at a very bad time, Alfred."

America looked very worried. "Wha… What do you mean a bad time?"

"As in, this world is on the verge of war." Prussia said gravely, narrowing his eyes. "And if we don't fix things soon… Well, you'll find yourself in the middle of a wasteland in your next visit."

**Welp... Now we're gonna get into the conflict of the story! Hopefully I'll be able to update next week (I probably will)! Also, I hope you spotted the references in this chapter. Please review if you have a minute.**


	4. History, Our Story

**Thanks to Redbayly, Kramburg and NadiaJA627 for reviewing! Yay, I updated on time! So, this chapter's gonna be devoted to explaining and showing more about the Dark World, and I hope I wrote it an interesting way. Now, on with the show!**

_(Final Fantasy VII OST: On That Day Five Years Ago)_

Oh… Well, that went downhill real fast.

Also, forgive her for stating the obvious, but this day was definitely _not_ going how Hungary thought it would. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing, but...

She thought today would just be another day putting up with the scorn and hypocrisy of the European Union, and then cheer herself up by hanging out with Poland and the few other Europeans who actually had a brain these days, but instead she wound up finding a good friend in America, did crazy stuff with him, got whisked away to another world with him, she learned there was another world…

And that was good! America was sweet to her and he understood her situation well, and Hungary was grateful that he was kind enough to take her to his place, and be the first one to do so! She liked this development. And she missed the old days back when she was a child (before puberty) where she'd go on adventures as a nomad and beating up jerks like Prussia and Romania (although _that_ part hasn't changed) and go out exploring. So this was a great opportunity! Especially with no cranky Europeans around to ruin it for you!

The ride through New York City was fun with America's insane driving and the pretty lights. Their little walk through Central Park was also tons of fun, with the different colored trees and grass and America's 'grand plan' to save the world from global warming and ISIS. And meeting Allen and the others…

Well, it was pretty interesting. It's very nice seeing a polite Prussia and a happy Romano. As for the angrier and foul-mouthed version of America that was Allen… Um, maybe he'll grow on her… hopefully…

And now, it looked like America decided to take Hungary to the Dark World at the same time there's political turmoil... you know, in the Dark World. Now, this was probably the part where one might think 'what the hell have I gotten myself into?', but Hungary was _not_ one of those people. She's worried, yes, but for these people, not herself.

She needed to know what's going on.

America was aghast with horror. "Wh-Wha… Huh?! What do you mean _war?!_ But I thought you said that things were going pretty great with the whole preventing a full-blown world war from happening!"

"Well, apparently we spoke too soon, Goldie." Allen scoffed in disdain and crossed his arms, blowing some of his long hair out of his face. "Italy's throwing a tantrum again, threatening invasion and shit if I don't stop being such a badass and powerful nation and shit. But this time it looks pretty damn serious."

Hungary's head snapped back and forth between the two Americas, feeling completely lost. Italy? What's this about?

"B-But are you sure, Al? For real?" America still looked rather pale, afraid, but somehow he then slipped into a slight Southern drawl again. "I know there have been some close calls where you barely avoid a war by a hair, but y'all say that he's all broth and no beans?"

"For starters, he's been acting more douchey than usual." Allen sneered in annoyance, probably recalling some unpleasant memories. "And he's being way too confident, like _really_ confident. The others aren't taking this lying down, you know. Some tried threatening him, but instead of snapping at them, he just smirks like the ass he is and does nothing, like he's got this all in the bag and he's just waiting to grab the reward for himself, y'know?"

"We know these situations come and go, but I have a very bad feeling about this…" Gillen narrowed his eyes and he clutched the cross hanging from his neck. "I just don't understand. This isn't like Luciano, this is too brash, even for him, and he's not stupid. But if he's not bluffing, then I fear he must have some insane and possibly genius plan…"

Close calls? Italy being douche? What insane and possibly genius plan? She had no idea what's going on!

"Oh, Luci does have a plan, he always does." Flavio nodded gravely, and his frown deepened. "But he just doesn't tell me those kinds of things anymore, no matter how supportive I try to seem. He doesn't trust me anymore, not even Lutz and Kuro, they don't knos anything either."

Lutz and Kuro? Wha… Hungary looked back and forth between them again, still gawking in confusion.

"Believe me, Alfredo, it surprised us too." Flavio said grimly "We'd thought he'd be quiet and calm for the next couple of years or so, but recently at the last World Meeting he suddenly… grew very bold, more so than usual. I don't know what's gotten into him. And I was really sure he'd listen this time… Oh, Luci…"

Luci? Heh, well no wonder that guy was evil. But whatever, was Hungary really being ignored here? She's very aware that she's new here, but still, it wouldn't hurt to fill in her on what's going on in this world.

"What's gotten him? He's gotten ten times more bat-shit crazy, that's what gotten into him!" Allen barked, and for a brief second there was a red glow in his eyes as he smirked and cracked his knuckles. "So that's why we gotta find a way to thrash him once and for all!"

"We need to find a way to convince him to back down again," Gillen reminded him sternly, looking like they've had this discussion before. "_Without_ causing a worldwide war."

"Yeah, without causing a worldwide war." Allen grumbled in annoyance, putting his hands in his pockets. "But we're definitely gotta thrash him, and maybe England too if we see him."

"Do we… really have to thrash Luci?" Flavio asked quietly as he fidgeted his fingers, his curl drooping. "Can't we just try to do what we always try to do?"

"But he's a bad guy! You guys gotta stop him!" America exclaimed worriedly. "Don't you think this has gone for too long?"

Hungary watched, a little stunned, as the four of them began to go on deep in conversation/argument about… what they were talking about. Okay, that's it.

"Um, excuse me…" Hungary piped up politely, trying not act snarky over being left out. She forced a tight smile. "Sorry for interrupting, but I'm new here, remember? So do you mind telling me what's this about a war and Italy? What's going on?"

"O-Oh, right, I forgot that you're new here, sorry about that, Lizzy." America stuttered apologetically, rubbing the back of his head. Hungary frowned. Oh dear, when was the last time America looked this worried? "Boy, dude, I swear, I didn't want you to get caught in the middle of this. I didn't know and if I did then-"

Hungary didn't want to hear any that self-deprecating talk. She smiled gently. "Alfred, you're sweet, really, and I appreciate that. But I know it isn't your fault and you don't see me immediately turning on you for bringing me here, do you? You don't need to apologize."

She saw America blush a little. "I-I… Gosh, thanks. But…"

"But I still have no idea what's this all about, that's right." Hungary nodded in agreement, though she felt a little bad for cutting him off like that. She looked at the four of them with a stubborn look. "Alright… So… What's going on? You mentioned Italy and the possibility of a World War. What about him?"

The trio of Dark World nations glanced at each other, looking a little unsure. Then they began to discuss amongst themselves.

Allen let out a sigh and turned to his friends. "So… who's gonna be Mr. Exposition this time?"

"It won't be easy explaining this all to her." Gillen warned in a hushed tone.

"We don't have to tell her the history of every country, do we?" Flavio asked gently, smiling warmly. "We can save that part for another time."

"Hey, she's my friend. How about I start telling her the basics and you guys can jump in whenever ya feel the need to? Sound good?" When he received nods from the three Dark World nations, America straightened up and turned back to Liz, face grim. "Thanks. Okay, here goes…"

He took a deep breath, and then started explaining.

"So you know how I told you that the nations here rule the country they represent, not the humans, right?" America asked her calmly, and a hand went and tipped the brim of his cowboy hat. "And you obviously know from Allen, Gillen and Flavio that the nations here, welp, they look and act kinda like the opposite of our personalities, right Liz?"

Hungary nodded slowly, and she gave a small. "Of course I do. It's one of the things that stand out from this world after all, other than the colors."

"Yessiree, but as you kinda guess, a result of those two things…" America held up two of the fingers from his right hand. "…the history of this world is different."

_"Different?"_ Hungary echoed in shock, admittedly feeling a little stunned at that. Sure, she should've expected that, but still… "Different how?"

"Duh, don't you remember, girlie?" Allen stuck his tongue, clearly annoyed, and Hungary feeling offended glared at him as he patted a grim Gillen's back. "Gil here's still a nation for one, and he's not going away anytime soon."

Hungary's mouth dropped a little, and she muttered a quick 'oh' in response to that. How could she have forgotten that already?

"Ja, as I mentioned before, I never joined my brother in any sort of quest to conquer or to spread a horrible ideology," Gillen stated in a surprisingly bitter tone, and he narrowed his eyes in distaste. "Mostly because said ideology never rose to prominence and my brother… well, he is gruff and cold, but too apathetic to ever want to attempt such a thing. I most definitely wouldn't have…"

Now that was something Hungary didn't expect to hear, and then it hit her like a ton of bricks. N-No… it couldn't be. She stared at them in utter disbelief. "W-Wait a minute. You're saying that Nazism doesn't exist and that Germany… your Germany… never tried to take over the world? I-I know that he wouldn't have been the Fuhrer, but Hitler..."

Gillen's face scrunched up in apparent distaste. "Well, there's obviously been a group of humans who believed themselves superior and wanted to either wipe out or enslave the others they deemed 'imperfect', just like with all other races, but it never got out of hand and I never heard of the term Nazism until Alfred told me."

"As for this _cretino_, Hitler, none of us ever heard of him. Si, we could ask Lutz or Roland, that's Germany and Austria respectively for you, but of course, it's too suspicious a question and they probably wouldn't care to help us anyway!" Flavio laughed emptily for a moment, before frowning. "And like I said before, there was no Mussolini and fascism for us, though if anyone would try taking over the world, my brother would. He once did try, in fact… didn't end very well for him."

Hungary only paid half-attention to what Flavio said, as she's too busy trying to connect the dots in all this information being thrown at her. So… Gillen's still a nation because he never joined Germany in trying to take over the world because he never tried to in the first place. Mussolini never came into the picture so the Italy brothers didn't… That only left Japan…

But it sounded like the Axis still somehow existed judging from Flavio mentioning a 'Kuro' with Germany. W-Wait just a minute, if Germany never wanted to conquer Europe then the world with Hitler, then…

"So, since Germany never tried to invade Poland and never started assembled a military in to do just that…" Hungary's eyes slowly widened, and it hit her again. "Does that mean that World War II never happened at all, or World War I for that matter?"

"There has once been a war, just one, where just about everyone was involved, early in the previous century." Gillen mused, looking lost in thought, and his expression became pained again. "We simply call it the Great War. It lasted five long years, and it was bloody and brutal. We all suffered greatly one way or another, but there was no second war."

"Yeah, we suffered greatly, alright." Allen spat bitterly, and then proceeded to mutter something under his breath that sounded like 'Damn Canadians'.

"That's when my fratello tried to conquer other countries," Flavio revealed quietly, shifting uncomfortably. "He succeeded for a while before..."

The three were bitter, not that Hungary blamed them. Who wasn't still bitter about the World Wars?

At this moment, Hungary wasn't sure if it's understandable or not since she still didn't know the full story yet, but she felt a little bit of envy for her counterpart and this world in general. A world where World War II never happened, a world where Hungary wasn't pressured into allying with a crazed and participating in a horrible war, it sounded wonderful.

"And those are just a couple of examples, Liz." America said, taking of his hat. "But don't get the wrong idea; a lot of shitty stuff still happened."

"Shitty's a mighty understatement, Thunder Thighs," Allen whistled, and he sneered again at Hungary. "I know you Light World bastards seen some pretty rough shit, I know that. But you think that you know some real evil nations? Heh, that's nothing."

Hungary stared at him warily. "What do you mean?"

"Well… about the whole 'the nations here have different personalities than the ones in

"Sometimes… they're _better_ people here, like Gil and Flavio here. They're like really cool people," America gave the two aforementioned nations a smile, whom blushed and grinned at the praise respectively. "You'd find that a lot of the jerks from our world are pretty cool here, or at least a _little_ bit better."

Hungary couldn't help but snort. Well, that sounded really… Then something occurred to her, and she stared at him. "Hey, wait. Does this the Romania and Turkey of this world actually kind of likeable?

"Nope, they're pretty terrible."

"There's a shock." Hungary grumbled to herself, and her expression softened. "So those we might we consider evil could be good people in this world? That sounds very nice…"

Oh, what would she give for a world where Romania wasn't a bloodsucking douche out to get her, Turkey wasn't a complete moron and a jerk and a had a more decent fashion sense, Serbia wasn't a complete Russia fanatic, Germany and the others didn't have all the intelligence of a _turkey_, and where she and Slovakia saw each other more often.

Since the history and nations here were different, Did her counterpart, Erszi, how different was her life from Hungary's? Did she spend her entire life until puberty thinking that she was a boy? Did she endure a bitter rivalry with Romania as Hungary did? Was she ever conquered by the Ottoman Empire and did she ever marry Austria? She'll have to ask later…

"But that's not all! Sometimes they got a kinda similar compass, and it's just the attitude that's different. Like with me and Chops here!" Allen smirked and cheerfully wrapped an arm around a slightly confused America. "Look at me, you don't see me being the Lex Luthor to Alfred's Superman, do ya? We're both pretty awesome."

"And we're the heroes!" America piped up weakly with a bright smile as Allen unknowingly choked him. Hungary had to smile at the sight.

"However…" Prussia furrowed his brow and he again clutched the cross around his neck. "There's a downside to all this."

Flavio nodded furiously, looking frightened. "A very deep downside!"

"What? What do you mean?" Hungary asked a little nervously at sudden change in the mood. "Are there nations here whose personalities take a turn for the worse here or something?"

"Righty-o, dude. Sometimes they're worse, like, a _lot_ worse." America warned, and he made a scowl. "Allen told me about this world's Russia, I even saw him from some old security footage he showed me, and this guy is a hundred times worse than our Russia, Liz. If Ivan isn't evil, which he totally obviously is by the way, then the other guy definitely is."

Hungary eyes widened at that horrifying statement, and she hoped that she just didn't turn pale. "Worse? Wh… Wha… How worse can this world's Russia be?"

"Very much, I'm afraid." Gillen said gravely with a pained face, and he once again tightly gripped the cross around his neck. "This will undoubtedly shock you, but your Russia's evil and callousness pales in comparison to his counterpart… **_Viktor_**."

As soon as Gillen spoke the name, Hungary could have sworn that the temperature in the area dropped several degrees, but that was probably just the result of her old feelings of fear and despair from the Soviet Union bubbling up to the surface or something. However, the looks of discomfort from the others said otherwise. Flavio kept glancing worriedly at Gillen while holding his arms. America looked a little uneasy but his face was large unreadable, with Allen next to him obviously seething in rage.

Hungary looked at each of them, and she stared down at her boots, frowning. She recalled when Russia came for her and how miserable she was as part of the Soviet Union, seeing her culture and her people's voices crushed under his cruelty. She remembered seeing Ukraine cry as Russia and his boss starved her to near death. She remembered seeing Prussia punished harsh and unfairly every time he tried to escape to see his brother.

Russia was, and always will be, a cruel man. And if anyone said otherwise (coughSerbiacough), Hungary will gladly slam their heads with their frying pan. They clearly didn't know anything of the Soviet Union, of what many of them went through because of him.

And now there's someone… _worse_ than him?

"He's as cold and ruthless as his very country." Gillen appeared to scowl, and he snarled as he spat his next words. "He cares for no one, not even his own sisters despite what they deluded themselves to believe, but himself. Like your Russia, he aims to crush and conquer, but his end goal isn't for company or equality, he only wishes to destroy _anyone_ who stands in his way."

"And then there are… the nations who in your world could be considered decent or good people, but are cruel and sadistic here." Flavio continued coolly, nothing like his bright and happy attitude from before. His eyes seemed to darken. "The group that my _fratello_ belongs to, which brings us to our current problem. He could give Russia a run for his money."

Hungary's reaction to that was obvious, and she tried to digest that little fact, as well as the fact that Italy… sweet, childlike, cowardly, ironically smarter and not blinded by pride or delusions like the others, cheerful Italy… was pure evil if how the trio spoke of him was any indication.

Sure, Italy could actually be pretty good at defending himself whenever he could cast aside he cowardliness like that battle he had with Turkey. But… this sounded too surreal.

Her first reaction? Well, she laughed, nervously, quietly, forcefully.

"Italy? Evil? Cruel? Y-You're joking, right?" Hungary laughed some more, but they all gave her disapproving looks. She stopped being insensitive and frowned. "The Italy from my world couldn't even hurt a fly. In fact, I think the only way he could severely hurt ever anyone is with his driving."

Now it was Flavio's turn to laugh, but it sounded emptier, bitter, before becoming angry. "Oh, don't fool yourself, bella. Look at us, we're the opposite of the Romano and Prussia of your world, so you shouldn't be too shocked about my brother. And don't treat this as if this were a joke…"

The look on his face darkened, and Hungary felt a chill. Then, it got worse when Flavio started stomping towards her much to the protests of Gillen and Allen. Before Hungary could even consider that she might want to get ready to defend herself, she felt someone grab her hand, and Hungary yelped when she suddenly found herself behind America.

"Hey, come on, chill out, Flavio." America frowned, standing protectively in front of Hungary. "She's still… not used to this world yet. Remember how jokey and nervous I was when you mentioned the whole thing with Italy, Japan and England-"

"If he heard you right now, laughing about you, no matter the reason, he'd have you killed!" Flavio seemed to ignore America and he kept going. "No, he'd torture you just for laughs, break that little strong spirit of yours into itty-bitty pieces and he'd tear out your-"

"Flavio!" Gillen hissed, putting his hand on the blonde Italian's shoulder, shaking him out of his stupor.

"H-Huh?" Flavio shook his head, confused and having been snapped out of it. His eyes then widened in realization, and he bowed his head. "O-Oh no, I'm so sorry…"

Hungary stood there looking at him warily. "Ah, no, I…"

"He didn't to sound like a jerk or anything. He's just worried, and he's been through a lot." America whispered sympathetically near her ear. "Italy's a real sensitive topic for him, and we try to avoid mentioning him as much as we can. "

Hungary glanced at him, then at Flavio, who was being comforted by Gillen and Allen. "What on earth happened between those two?"

America looked down, uncertain. "Not really my place to say… I'm sorry."

"For what?" Hungary gave him a puzzled look.

"For having you involved in this." He said quietly.

Hungary gave him a displeased look. "Are you _still_ on with that?"

"Hey! Chops, Miss Not-Erszi, are you gonna keep whispering and shit?" Allen loudly called out to them.

"Miss _Not_-Erszi?" Hungary's eye twitched, seriously?

"He's… kinda bad with strangers." America said flatly, almost embarrassed.

"I heard that!" Allen shouted, and he put on a thoughtful look, which made him look a little constipated. "So, where were we again? Oh yeah, there's a shit ton of evil bastards in our world, Italy or Luciano or whatever's one of them, he's evil, yeah, really evil."

"But how could he be evil?" Hungary asked cautiously, and then she realized something. She shook her head. "No, wait. I mean, there are countries from our world that really deserved a good frying to the face, but except for a few nations, I don't think there's anyone who can really be considered evil."

"Yeah, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, China, maybe Syria and Serbia and a couple of others are pretty much the only bad guys now that I think about it…" America commented pensively as he stroked his chin. "Does Iraq count? He's been pretty shady lately with Iran and Hezbollah. Then again, when isn't the Middle East shady?"

"Oh, tell me about it." Allen scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I have some good buddies in there, but boy, do they creep me out sometimes, especially Emirates and Bahrain."

"I actually think Serbia's more stubborn and stupid than evil." Hungary remarked dryly, and she grimaced. "He can kind of cold and uncaring though…"

"Right?!" America exclaimed, laughing breathlessly. "You really gotta feel bad for Kosovo."

"Ah, I completely understand your pain, Allen. Bahrain's clothes are so last decade!" Flavio grimaced in distaste, and he paled. "And when I tried to gently bring it to his attention he threatened to get blood on all of my clothes!"

"Hey, Liz, you think if we got rid of Serbia, more people would be willing to recognize Kosovo?" America asked, before quickly backtracking. "N-Not that the hero's considering it, but… boy, does that guy make it tempting.

"I think you should get rid of Russia first before anything else, to be honest." Hungary said as she tried to come up with something. "Cause if Serbia won't stop anyone from recognizing Kosovo, Russia will. Kind of like with China and Taiwan."

"You know, Flavio, not everyone cares about whether their clothes are last season or not." Allen growled in annoyance. "And Bahrain really couldn't care less. You probably just annoyed the creep too much."

"Well, they should!" Flavio squawked defensively. "And I was really nice, I'll have you know!"

"Hey, I wonder how Taiwan's doing right now…"

"QUIET!" Gillen bellowed, bringing all the chatter to an abrupt stop. Hungary jumped and saw that Gillen was fuming like Germany would. "Mein Gott, You all have the attention span of a gold fish! Have you all forgotten what we were talking about?!"

"Uh… sorry?" America apologized lamely.

Prussia sighed exasperatedly and he face-palmed. Wow, he really was just like Germany! "Well, let's not get off-track any longer. There are still things that need to be explained so you can understand the gravity of our situation and how it has come to be."

Allen groaned loudly. "Oh _come on!_ We already told her about the whole good and evil part, do we _really_ need a history lesson? The situation is simple. Italy's evil so he wants to take over the world and destroy us so we gotta stop him, _end_ of story."

"What if I want know more?" Hungary asked sharply with a raised eyebrow."

"Then we can tell you some other time!" Allen said simply, and he rubbed his temples. "I really don't want to talk about our '_glorious'_ world history right now of all times..."

"Allen, for the thousandth time, what I have told you about manners?" Flavio scolded Allen, who anxiously avoided his gaze, and the Italian puffed his cheeks and pinched the redhead's ear in response. "Don't you know how to treat a lady correctly?!"

"Ow, OW! Okay, cut it out, Flavio!"

"But it's her first visit here, and we should fill her in on what's going on in case something happens!" America protested with a disapproving look toward Allen, who was glaring at a beaming Flavio. "I mean, Liz here is really tough and the hero here will totally help her out, but come on, it's not cool to leave her out like this."

"Yeah, thank you, Alfred." Hungary smiled gratefully at her friend, who smiled back, and she frowned at Allen. "Listen, I'm sorry, but I'd much rather be in the know about what's going on. If I'm going to keep visiting this world, I might as well learn the history, right?"

Allen scowled and it quickly started to falter, probably because America's giving him the puppy dog eyes again, and Hungary smiled sweetly.

"Dammit!" Allen cursed loudly, so much that it echoed throughout the park, and he threw his hands up in frustration again. "Fine! Let's get this damn over and done with."

"Yes, thank you!" Hungary cheered.

"You're damn welcome…" Allen grumbled under his breath.

"I know you're not fond of remembering the past, none of us do, but it's something we must face." Prussia advised him softly, and he cracked a small smile. "Besides, in case you've forgotten, it wasn't all bad. Or did all the times Flavio and I spent raising and protecting you meant nothing?"

Allen flinched as if struck, and he became pale as if he saw a ghost. He waved his hands frantically. "What? No! NO! I didn't mean that! It's just… I don't wanna…"

Prussia stared at him, before realization dawned on his face.

"…I see," "Well then, I will try to steer clear of that detail unless it's necessary."

Hungary, puzzled at what the hell that's supposed to mean, looked at America for answers, who frowned glanced away.

"Well then, without further ado…" Gillen decided solemnly, and he faced Hungary with a grim look. "Let me tell you our history, our story."

/ / / / /

_(Final Fantasy VII OST: Anxious Heart)_

Allen's not happy with this, obviously.

Okay, he's happy that he's with his bestest buddy and confidante Alfred; in fact, he's over the moon that he's back. It's been a while since he visited and Allen missed him more than he'd ever fucking admit. And if they weren't around other people, Allen would've run up to him and tackled him in an good o'l hug. He had a reputation to keep!

It's about damn time Al came to visit too! Lately it looked like the work he's doing was 'too important' in the blonde's words to ditch even Allen would take jumping over to another to dealing with the cesspool that was American politics. Jeezus, this was why you should never let humans rule! All they'll do is screw everyone over. If Allen head to deal with that on a weekly basis, he was damn sure that he'd snap and thrash everyone after just a couple of days.

Screw work and rules, they're nations, dammit! Allen always told him to forget that Democrat and Republican drama-mama and come over to his place, or even better, maybe even consider _moving_ to the Dark World. They could rule the country together!

But no, Alfred always said!), no can do sir. 'A hero never abandoned his duties', he said, it's not cool dude', he said. Life has never been easy, and you gotta look on the bright side. Yeah, yeah, that's true as hell and Allen knew that all too well from experience just as much as Alfred did.

But what he's not happy about was that Gillen was about to give a damn history lesson. Allen hated history lessons. Now, hey, hey, don't get him wrong. For all of Gil's uptightness and buzzkill-ishness, he's an awesome storyteller. The problem was that Allen hated thinking about their shitty past.

Heh, kinda ironic, yeah, since Allen's got a revenge list that he's got every fucking intention of completing. But still, he'd rather think about it as little as possible for the sake of controlling his shitty temper and keeping his own sanity in check.

And it's all for the newbie.

Allen glanced grumpily at the Erszi look-alike standing way too close to Alfred for the redhead's overprotective comfort. He felt something twist at his insides, and he resisted sighing or groaning like Gillen would. _God_. _Dammit_. He still couldn't get over how Chops brought Erszi's counterpart. He wasn't sure if this was the best or worst thing that could happen.

Sure she looked nice and friendly and all that, and she's definitely stronger and braver than Erszi. Allen could see it in her eyes and her damn attitude. But he couldn't bring himself to trust a Lightner, even if she's Erszi's counterpart, especially since she's Erszi's counterpart. Allen was worried that that fact will make him let his guard him and come back to bite him and Alfred in the ass later. So if Alfred won't be on guard, then it's up to Allen to protect him, no matter what it takes.

Alfred's too goody-goody for his own good. Yeah, he's not stupid, no way, but Allen's worried about him.

And so for that reason Allen wasn't really sure if they should let the Erszi, the other Hungary in on what's going on. There's no telling what'll fucking happen if they let her leave knowing too damn much.

Argh, just listen to the fucking history lesson, Allen. It's starting.

"Our world has always been a mess." Gillen began calmly with what had to be the understatement of the century. "We never really seemed to stop fighting each other. And as one might expect, it was a world where the strong thrived while the weak were crushed and enslaved in many parts, especially Europe. If you showed even one moment of weakness, it could cost you your life. In every continent and region of the world there always seemed to be at least several nations who were unbelievably cruel or insane…"

It felt like a damn curse, Allen thought bitterly. Why did there always have to be at least some bastards in every single area of the world? Even in the Middle East, he begrudgingly acknowledged that for all his genuinely close friendship with _that guy _unlike with Alfred and that guy's shitty counterpart, the guy had a serious issue with feeling empathy.

_Allen kneeled there on the rubble, crying his eyes out and wailing as he banged his fists on the ground. Meanwhile the fucker just stood there staring at him as if he just spewed fire from his fucking mouth. Didn't he know that he's grieving._

_"W-Wha… I don't understand… Why… are you crying? It was just a few thousand or less humans that the others took! You still have hundreds of millions left!"_

He really didn't get it, did he?

"This has been especially prominent in the Middle Ages and the old times. If it was rough in your world, it was a hundred times worse for us." Very true, Gil. "Everyone seemed to be dealing with some type of enormous problem or problems. In Europe there were many simultaneous wars for centuries. The Middle East and North Africa shed a lot of blood in defending themselves from the Ottoman Empire and/or executing religious fanatics, though many of them ended up conquered nonetheless. East Asia… Oh, where do I even start on that…?"

Japan and China went and fucked shit up, that's what happened. Allen's lip curled up in disgust. And Europe… ugh…

_"You could have been so much more, Allen-kun…." _Oh, shut up and die, Squinty-Eyes.

_"You should join us, return to your true family. Don't deny it; you feel the same anger and eagerness for battle and death as we do!" _That's…

_"My brother Russia's the best!"_ Suuure, he was.

_"Y-You're not… angry with me, are you?" _Not anymore at least.

"But the Europeans and certain other nations from other continents… I have no words to describe the atrocities they have committed or the extent of their cruelty and insanity." Gillen whispered, and turned away, as if ashamed. "It was madness, a madness that even took hold of my and Flavio's minds for a certain time."

"But you guys were still lightyears better than the others," Allen couldn't help but remind them, and he clenched his fists when they both smiled at him sadly. It's true!

"I could spend the entire day even after the silver moon rises up to the sky, for now let us focus on Europe." Gillen grabbed his cross again, which meant that he's probably gonna go into some emotional stuff. "Like I mentioned before, it is one of the worst continents, and the ones with any true semblance and honor and compassion are few. We are lucky to have someone as tirelessly kind and benevolent as our Hungary."

Allen nodded in agreement, and downcast eyes stared at his sneakers. Did they really deserve to have someone like her? She's too nice for this world.

_"Oh, are you all right?" A woman's warm, gentle voice asked in obvious concern._

_Allen narrowed his eyes, and out of habit, steeled himself and faced her with grumpy look. Nice or not, you shouldn't trust these Europeans so easily. "I am fine, you... whoever the hell you'e supposed to be. Now can you stop staring and leave me alone?"_

_God, if Flavio were here, he'd give him an earful for his bad manners, but Allen couldn't care less right now. He needed to get out of here. He needed to meet up with Gil, Flavio and the others before England… _

_But as soon as he got a good look at her, it took all he had to not have his mouth drop and gape like an idiot._

_The blonde lady seemed to have a case of selective mutis… mute… whatever, and frowned and tilted her head. "Are you sure? You have some bruises and I have some… Oh goodness, your arms! They're-"_

_Allen's eyes widened as he stupidly remembered that he's still bleeding and he began to try to walk away. "What, have you never seen blood before, lady? Listen, I'm in a hurry, and I need to meet with a certain albino knight. So if you can simply get out of my way I can proper treatment before I bleed out the longer this stupid conversation continues!"_

_Now that should definitely chase her away! _

_…And he was wrong._

_"Albino knight…" The blonde lady wearing way too much pink repeated, and her face suddenly brightened. "Oh my, you wouldn't happen to be the representative of the Thirteen Colonies he's always telling me about, would you?"_

_Dammit, he hated his big mouth!_

_Suddenly paranoid, Allen snarled, "Depends, who's asking?"_

_"I'm Erszi, representative of Hungary!" She introduced herself with a small curtsy. Allen rolled his eyes. Europeans… "It's nice to meet finally you! _

Allen shook his head, shaking himself out of that flashback, despite the sad feeling tugging at his heart. Now's not the time, dammit!

"Just like with you and your Prussia, Erszi and I knew each other since a very young age." "She was and still is a fragile girl, and spent most of her infancy to early childhood in the protective care of her caretaker Magyar. Erszi never learned to fight, even when everyone thought she was a boy no matter how many times she spent telling us otherwise."

Brunette Hungary coughed, and everyone turned their attention to her. She was smiling, and looked like she wanted to either cry or laugh her ass off. "I'm sorry, everyone thought she was a boy even though she said she wasn't?"

Gillen stared at her oddly. "Ja, a foolish error on our parts, why?"

Brunette Hungary sputtered and answered, "I… grew up thinking I was a boy until I reached puberty."

_…Say what?!_

Allen glared accusingly at Alfred, giving him a _'Why the hell didn't you tell me this before?!'_ look.

Alfres shrugged and smiled nervously, saying _'Didn't think it was too important, and it felt too personal.'_

"…Oh." Gillen blinked, and he blushed darkly. "I-I guess that's yet another difference of our worlds… A-Anyway…"

So Brunette Hungary never knew she was a chick until she grew her boobs? That's actually pretty hilarious if you think about it. Heh, must've been real painful and annoying for Hungary to wait years for-

Oh, focus, Allen! Don't get distracted. He tried to play it cool and crossed his arms, listening to Gillen continuing with the history lesson.

"As in your world, I was born when the Teutonic Order came to be, and they raised me. I was raised with Christian values to avoid falling on the same path as the others, and a result I devoted my life to help the miserable Christians of the continent." Why the hell was Lightner Hungary looking at Gillen like that? Was she stunned by Gil's true awesomeness? "I fought for the survival of me and the Order, as your Prussia did, and I had become, though I do not like to boast, quite strong and formidable."

Boast? Bullshit, those were facts!

"He was a like in shining armor, coming to rescue Christian damsels in distress!" Flavio said dreamily, clasping his hands, and Allen had to snicker at that mental image. "Granted, he could've taken a few more baths back in the day, but still…."

"Cool…" Alfred's eyes sparkled. Wait, didn't he already know this?

Gil sighed, but Allen smirked when he failed to hide the big blush on his face. "A-Anyway, I tried to avoid unnecessary conflicts, but to no avail. I fought Turkey, Spain, Portugal, Austria, and the Baltics, to name a few. Some battles weren't as successful as others, but I managed to establish myself as someone not to be messed with. I even fought Italy one time…"

"That's when we met actually! And we bonded when Gil was forced to ally with my fratello for a time!" Flavio piped up, and hugged Gillen, much to the latter's surprise, before letting go and flashing a grin. "Luciano never liked him very much, but I convinced him to leave him alone! For a while, at least…"

"Ja, it was… nice seeing someone with similar values." Prussia remarked with a smile that almost made Allen want to either gag or grin.

But the happy atmosphere couldn't last forever. This was where the serious stuff came in again.

"Speaking of Italy, there is something I must explain before we get to him…" Oh, here we go. "I assume you obviously know that the Italies are the grandsons of the Roman Empire, and that he was probably one the greatest and most terrible empire your world had ever seen, ja? Well, there was also a Roman Empire in our world, and he was truly one of the worst beings this Earth has ever produced."

Allen gritted his teeth. Yeah, yeah, Rome was before his time and shit, but since the guy was the bastard responsible for Flavio going through so much shit and for raising one of the worst pieces of crap the world's ever seen, then yeah, Allen had more than enough reason to hate his gusts too.

He glanced at his doppelganger, and he wasn't surprised to see that Alfred's gone quiet, but he looked a bit too quiet. Hell, he even looked kinda pissed. But still… Allen hummed in thought at this. Sometimes he wondered if it's because of _Allen_, rather than the blonde's own personal feelings.

"My grandfather was a very serious and cold man; he never had time nor cared for giving me and Luci love." Flavio uttered flatly, lip curled up in disgust. "He just wanted us to get strong enough to be a perfect legacy, but he always favored me over Feli. I… I guess… you could say… that I had a _smidge_ more talent than my brother. At first I was happy, how could I not be? I finally got my bastardo of a grandpda to be proud of me. But…"

Flavio shook his head, and he gripped his head. He was crying. Allen stiffened at this. Oh god, Flavio's crying…

"It was torture! My… grandfather… I wanted to do what he did to make him proud, but I just couldn't! The things he loved to do… they were terrible! He loved to battle and paint gory art just for his own sick amusement! I just couldn't bring myself to enjoy it!"

Just like Italy did now.

"And so when I refused to step up, my grandfather turned his attention to Luciano, and he was too eager to earn Nonno's approval even though I begged him not to… But Luciano did anyway and I never saw him again for a long time, and so Rome tormented him for years and years until finally my stupid-ass grandfather got himself killed! _Rome_ ruined him. No, I ruined him. It's my fault that…!"

Now Flavio was wailing, and Allen, unable to see him like this because dammit Flavio _wasn't_ supposed to cry, went and tried to help comfort his big brother. Gillen wrapped his arm around him for a change and pulled him close while Allen tried to come up something, anything, to stop him from crying.

"H-Hey, bro, Flavio, calm down." Allen told him more kindly than usual, patting his back. "Come on, it's not your damn fault. You…. You should be proud you stood up for yourself!"

_You wouldn't be here if you didn't!_

"Rome's abuse and expectations, the trauma of his demise, and having carved his desires and goals onto his grandson ruined Luciano." Prussia stated bitterly, and he held the wailing Flavio close, and he scowled. "And the results were catastrophic."

"Nonno would've been proud." Flavio spat, before sobbing again.

"Many years passed, and then eventually like in your world, Flavio and Luciano were separated by Spain and Austria respectively." Gillen went on explaining, and Flavio's sobs grew even louder. "They were both cruel, and Italy left Austria's hosue even crueler and inhumane than before."

"W-Wait, if my counterpart ended up under Austrian rule, then doesn't mean that my counterpart was with him too?" Brunnette Hungary shakily asked, sounding desperate. "If so, and since she's so _kind_ and _sweet_, then how come your Italy turned out terrible anyway? I was like a sister to my Italy! I even sort of raised him!"

Allen felt pretty shocked. So this chick raised Italy too?

Gillen closed his eyes for a moment, and he shook his head. "Ja, she was under Austria's rule for a period of time and lived with him and Italy. I saw them together even, and she was kind to him despite the little Italy's anger and bitterness. She was patient and tried to help him. And Erszi did her best, but even her best wasn't enough to save Italy's soul."

Other Erszi looked like she just got slapped in the face, and she bit her lip. Alfred, being the gentleman and the good guy he was, put his hand on her shoulder and comforted her. Looks like the fact that in one world she failed to raise Italy hit her a little hard.

"And now, in the present time and after many ways, Italy has grown tremendously in power despite his power and sharing the country with Flavio. And now he wants to achieve what others failed to do: Conquer the world." Gillen warned gravely, but he nodded to Allen and Flavio. "So, it's up to us, the Trinity Alliance and our fellow allies, to stop him from accomplishing this goal. But it's not just the world he wants…"

Brunette Hungary blinked. "It's not?"

"Nein, he wants _your_ world as well."

**Dun dun dun... Yeah, another cliffhanger. I couldn't help myself. And yeah, I went with Final Fantasy VII music this time (because that game is awesome and so is the soundtrack) because I just love the OST and it seemed to fit perfectly for the situation. Please review if you have a minute.**


	5. The Bright Side

**Thanks to HelloThereHowAreYou, Kramburg and NadiaJA627 for reviewing. Yes, I did! I managed to update weekly again! Anyway, please enjoy this continuation and the introduction of a couple more 2Ps. Now, on with the show!**

_(Final Fantasy VII OST: Anxious Heart)_

Maybe, if the situation wasn't so serious, Allen would've laughed at the look on the Erszi knockoff's face.

But Allen's not an idiot, despite what many, MANY people might say… and he's not laughing. This was no joke and no laughing matter. Only a fucking moron wouldn't take any of this seriously. This just didn't involve the lives of the USA, his pals and the world, this involved Alfred too. While for the most part, those human-whoring doormats, jackasses and hypocrites could rot in hell for all Allen cared, but then Alfred would also suffer…

The very thought made Allen clench his teeth, and a feeling of protectiveness burned in his heart. No… _No way in hell… The only way those pieces of worthless shit would get their hands on him was over Allen's goddamn body…!_

Speaking of Thunder Thighs… Well, Alfred already knew of the whole sitch with that crazy-ass Italian for years, so… yeah, didn't come as a surprise to him. He did look super worried, enough to make Allen want to groan and complain to Gillen for dropping _that_ bombshell when they coulda just ended it right there with saying that they needed to stop Italy, and then they could all… dunno, beat the shit out of some douchey Canadians or something?

However… Allen grudgingly admitted, maybe it was necessary to tell Brunette Hungary _that_ detail about Italy. That way if she's planning on double-crossing them and selling them out to the Lightners, she'll think twice about doing it. Wouldn't wanna risk total chaos by having the two worlds finding about each other, right? Then again, from what's he's heard and seen of those Lightners, they're definitely dumb enough to do that thinking that they'll come out as the winners in the end.

…Right? Yeah, no, definitely dumb enough.

Oh puh-lease, like those dumbasses stand a chance against the likes of Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, India, of course and the great and awesome Trinity Alliance themselves. Even for all the Light World's 'scary' nations like Belarus or North Korea, they'd be quickly crushed into dust by Lithuania's superb swordsmanship and reflexes and Singapore's badass martial arts and gymnastics skills respectively in a fight.

Allen wanted to scoff. My god… he's actually kind of rooting for his fucking world, even the shitty heartless bastards from here, to win if an inter-dimensional war really will happen. Al wouldn't be happy about that. But he's just stating facts, man…

And, well, it may be a shitty world, but it's still _his_ world. Wait, didn't Alfred say that too?

Bleh, he's just rambling boring crap now, dammit. Whatever, and anyway, another thing was that with this info, Brunnete Hungary won't be careless with their visits here. Alfred must've given her the rundown, but still, a bit more motivation wouldn't hurt, right?

'Cause Knockoff Erszi looked pretty shaken. But Allen didn't blame her for that. It's not every day that some handsome, pretty, starry-eyed, too good for his own good nation took her to another world only to discover that there's a chance that someone from that world will invade _her_ crappy world.

"W-What…?" Boy, Brunnete Hungary sure looked like she'd just been hit by a ton of bricks. She gaped like a fish, and Allen wondered if he'd laugh if a fly got into her mouth. "Your Italy knows about the other world?"

Allen shrugged, feeling his lip curl in distaste. "Yep, pretty much, Other Erszi."

Flavio's brow furrowed in worry, "One day in a world meeting about sixty years ago, without even saying a word about it to me, my brother came forward and told everyone about the existence of another world that he dubbed 'the Light World' or 'World of Light' and he called the inhabitants the Lightners."

"He spoke of a world with a blue sky, a blinding yellow sun, and representatives of countries everything and nothing like us." Prussia continued for Flavio. "The descriptions he gave were too accurate to be a mere coincidence. It couldn't have been a bluff or a lie."

Oh yeah, that was a terrible World Meeting, even more so than usual. Allen still couldn't believe that he somehow managed to keep it cool during all that, thank god. 'Cuz if he failed to do just that, and he freaked out in front of everyone, then…

Wait, no, bad Allen! What mattered was that nothing went wrong. No one asked questions and (apparently) no one suspected them. Just focus on the fucking conversation, Allen. This was super important.

"He announced his intention of finding a way into that world and conquering it for himself, along with our world. Truly, an insatiable lust for power…" Gillen shook his head in disapproval, and Allen agreed wholeheartedly. "Naturally and fortunately, and since he also had no proof to back up his claims, no one believed him nor took him seriously. However, he hasn't given up on that goal."

"Not even the crazy ones believed my fratello, and that's saying something." Flavio added in discomfort, cringing for a moment. "But it'll take much more than scorn to make Luciano give up. He's… known for very stubborn."

Understatement of the century, Flavio!

"But how did he find out about the other world? I thought you three, and also my counterpart, were the only ones who knew!" Brunette Hungary asked.

"You tell us, Lizzy." Alfred shrugged, just as confused and beyond worried. "It gave me a big scare when Allen told me about it. I even stopped visiting for a couple of years after that. But we got no idea how the bad guy could've found out about it. We always made sure we were careful!"

"Trust me, Knockoff Erszi, we launched a full-blown investigation to see how Italy could've found out about your world," Allen stated lazily, picking his teeth again, and he ignored how the knockoff herself glared at him. "And what did we find out? Nothing. Nada. Zero. We were left with a gazillion more questions than answers."

Gillen then put on his thinking face, and he grasped his cross again. "The fact that Italy hasn't ever pointed fingers at us, never publicly stated that we were hiding that secret, or ever questioned us if we knew about another world also served to further baffle us. So we then concluded that if he didn't find out through us, he must've discovered it through **_someone else_**."

"Who would that be?" Brunette Hungary said, asking the same question they've all been asking themselves for years.

"Well, that's the thing. We don't know, nor have any possible leads." Gillen stated grimly, shaking his head in disappointment. "It's a curious and very concerning mystery that remains unsolved to this very day…"

At this, Brunette Hungary glanced questionably at Flavio, who scowled at the unspoken accusation. "Hey, don't look at me, bella! I was just as shocked as everyone was when my fratello said all that. I'd never betray my best friend and my beloved _bambino!_"

Allen immediately glared angrily at Flavio for calling him that embarrassing nickname, and face-palmed, hoping that no one saw his blush ('cause he just _knew_ he was blushing). Gee, thanks, big bro…

"As far as we know, it shouldn't be possible for Italy to travel to the other world, much less _know_ about it." Gillen stated with a stern look, crossing his arms, and he glanced at Allen and Alfred. "For reasons that Alfred seemed to have claimed, only he has the power to travel between worlds, while Allen can only see the other world through a mirror, an ability Alfred also happens to possess."

Brunette Hungary looked at Alfred and Allen curiously, looked like Chops hasn't told her how this all got started yet. Good. At least he wasn't _completely_ too goody and friendly for his own damn good.

"I'll… explain later, Lizzy." Alfred said nervously, smiling.

"Despite our lack of answers, we should be glad that Alfred hasn't been discovered. That's what's important" Gillen remarked calmly, and then he frowned. "Still, what a truly baffling surprise it was… Nothing seems to make sense…"

Oh, don't get Allen started on that.

_Flashback: Sixty years ago…_

_Allen yawned and stretched his arms as he walked through the halls with two of his pals, while on the inside he repeatedly thanked whoever who made the goddamn universe for giving him Hollywood, cause if it weren't for his acting skills he'd be sweating bullets and shouting all sorts of cuss words… because boy, was he freaking out. Oh god, this was bad, like, really bad._

_God, how the hell did he manage to keep his cool like that? He must've been too damn shocked to actually react. _

_Luckily no one seemed to have picked up on it, thank fucking goodness, again because of his super-awesome award-winning acting skills and overall coolness, but Gillen and Flavio knew that deep down Allen wanted to scream at the top his damn lungs if the way they looked at him like worried parents were any indication. Why? Because they knew that what Italy said was true too. The three of them knew the truth._

_Well, at least no one believed Italy._

_Right now neither of his pals, Cuba and Argentina, didn't look like they suspected Allen's having a bit of a crisis, probably 'cause they're not the sharpest tools in the damn shed (although Argentina could be pretty damn observant). Besides, they're probably deep thought or something over what happened too._

_Allen really needed to meet with Gillen and Flavio pronto, but not now. It'd look too suspicious; they were a team after all. And he promised Cuba and Argentina that he'd hang out with them for their monthly game of canasta with the rest of their little gang. Gee, was he looking forward to twenty minutes of arguing over which version of canasta they'll play this time._

_So… To keep the suspicion off him, Allen decided to play it cool. Make a couple of mean jokes and throw some shade so people will get the idea that he's not taking any of this 'bullshit' seriously. He's awesome at that. _

_"Man, can you believe Italy back there?" Allen smirked, and he snickered like he usually did. Yeah, he's doing great. "Seriously, you'd think the Brit Bros would the only ones crazy enough to say that sort of crazy stuff like that, and even they were looking at him as if he was an idiot."_

_Both of his freaky pals turned to look at him. Cuba stopped trying to accomplish Haiti's dare that he could smoke despite his allergies, and Argentina stopped nuzzling his ovenbird plushy against his cheek to look at him. Man, they were weird…_

_Cuba, Alfred's main man and self-proclaimed sidekick, nodded furiously in agreement. "Si, you said it, boss. I don't believe it, not one bit! I mean, where the hell would he get the idea that there's another world out there?"_

_Oh, Cuba… Maximo… (Because according to him, he's 'Lo Maximo!').Tall, fit, better looking and smarter than his Lightner self, surprisingly good at math and technology but still couldn't land himself a date, and extremely allergic to tobacco even though his island's full of it. He's weird, but a fun, interesting but kind of annoying type of weird… and he's… a good friend. He's got long dark hair in dreadlocks, honey eyes, and wore stylish clothes, but he's nowhere near as flamboyant as Flavio._

_Ever since Allen learned what an ass Alfred's Cuba turned out to be and what a complete sucker for something as unbelievably stupid and fucked up as communism, he's been going through a lot of lengths to make sure Maximo didn't end up the same way… even though the guy's a lot smarter than that and there's no communism in this world. Allen also resolved to appreciate him more… Max was surprised, but he didn't question it and was just over the fucking moon that Allen wasn't scolding him every ten minutes._

_Allen also promoted him from clingy lackey and neighbor to henchman and close friend, since it was kind of… long overdue… and there's no way he could describe how fucking happy Maximo was. He was happy for the guy… until Maximo decided to kiss him. Let's just say that someone came out with a broken nose. Still, so far so good!_

_"Yeah, I know, right? A world with a yellow sun too bright to see directly and a blue sky? Sounds super lame…" Allen laughed loudly, glad that he was buying it. "What's next, green leaves and grass and golden sand?"_

_No offense to Alfred's world, of course. There was a lot of pretty stuff in his good buddy's world, sometimes even prettier than the places he's seen in this world… though in the Dark World's forests, flora and stuff were leagues better._

_Cuba snickered at that, while Argentina just kept hugging his ovenbird. "Heh. Good one, boss. Wouldn't be surprised if that guy came out and said just that."_

_"Hmm, well, let's just ignore the bastard, guys." Allen suggested earnestly, linking his hands behind his head. "I don't know about you two bastards, but I'm not gonna waste my time with that bullcrap. Besides, I still need to deal with that bitch Mexico…"_

_It felt like that would be the end of it, but then Cuba frowned. "But, boss…."_

_"But what?" Allen almost nearly snapped. "Don't tell you're having second thoughts, Max."_

_"Ay, no, no! Not at all! But, boss, you gotta wonder, how did he thought up that crazy stuff? And why did he tell us all about it? What's the endgame?" Ah, yet another one of Cuba's surprisingly good points. "I mean, I know he's not sane, but he could've seriously been expecting that we'd all buy it, no?"_

_Allen froze at the other surprisingly good point, and it got him thinking. Yeah, Max's right, what the hell was Italy thinking when he decided that he'd tell the world about the Light World only to make himself look like even more of a loser in front of everyone? Was he so cocky and entitled that he actually believed they'd all believe him even he's got like zero evidence to back up his claims and shit?_

_Did he want to see how they'd react? Was this a plan to manipulate the magical nations to grow curious and investigate for themselves? Nah, even they didn't look convinced or confused enough to do that. _

_"Personally, I doubt that those were just the ramblings of a madman or even lies, amigo." Argentina's quiet and raspy voice spoke for first time since they left together. "Italy is mad, si, but I sensed no madness in his words."_

_Allen cringed and looked at his pal warily._

_Argentina… poor Santiago… He's fairly tall guy, and people would know he's actually Allen's height if he weren't hunching over all the damn time…! But Allen understood why, Argentina needed to be hunched over and have his head low if he wanted his hair to keep covering his face. Oh, speaking of his face, it's… Well, let's just say Spain **loved** torturing him._

_He's a guy physically the same age as Allen, but who the hell could tell, really? Santiago's got dark brown hair, along with a strand of hair sticking out of his head, long enough to brush past his shoulders and to cover his face except his creepily wide and unblinking hazel-colored left eye, but you could just tell he didn't take care of it very well, and didn't brush it often. Flavio couldn't stand him 'cause of that. He's pale as paper, and he wore cheap, simple and dirty clothes… which was ANOTHER reason why Flavio couldn't stand him._

_Allen glanced at the ovenbird plush doll in Argentina's scared hands warily. Santiago's great and all, but if you hang you with him, you gotta make sure he **never** lost that damn ovenbird of his. If you're too brain-dead to do just that, then, well, get ready to see the results of Spain's 'loving' care. Still, insanity aside, Santiago's a pretty swell guy, one of the best people you'll ever meet! And he's good at canasta!_

_"Hey, what are getting at, Santiago?" Cuba asked him skeptically._

_Argentina turned to face them, his visible eye staring at them creepily from the curtain that was his hair. "I'm not saying that he's telling the truth, Maximo. I don't believe this nonsense about another world. I'm merely saying that there may be more to this than we might think…"_

_Allen narrowed his eyes. "You mean like what Max said?_

_"Si, I also believe that Italy is nowhere near as stupid to think that we'd all believe estos tonterías, especially with no evidence." Argentina nodded, speaking softly, and he hummed in thought. "What's the point of telling us this? Was this a ploy and part of some grand scheme of his? Who knows, maybe he's going with the 'so crazy that it might work' method."_

_If that's the case, then Italy's getting either really desperate or even crazier._

_"…Was it an action driven by desperation, I wonder? Or did he want to provoke someone?"_

_Now **that** got Allen's attention._

_He tensed and whipped his head in Argentina's direction. "Wait, what?"_

_"It's just a guess, but it seems likely, at least to me." The guy shrugged, and he hugged his plush tight. "Why else would he embarrass himself like that?"_

_But… How… If that's the case then why didn't he confront Allen and… Wouldn't Italy have too much damn pride to… Why would he want to provoke him? He couldn't seriously think that Allen was that stupid, right?_

_"Ugh, NONE OF THIS MAKES SENSE!" Allen yelled nearly at the top of his lungs._

_Why did Italy have to be such a fucking headache?! It's driving him crazy! And now it turns out that he knew about you-know-what and (god forbid) maybe even you-know-who too? Oh, that tears it. Bro or not, he's gonna make Flavio spill!_

_Cuba playfully lightly punched him on the shoulder, much to Allen's annoyance, grinning. "Hey, don't worry, boss! Calm down. This'll blow over soon, and this is no big deal. Besides, I got your back."_

_YES, THIS WAS A BIG DEAL!_

_"Same here, amigo." Argentina concurred, no doubt smiling behind his messy hair. "If any problem arises, don't hesitate to call us or the rest of the Trinity Alliance for help. And please be careful out there, Al._

_"Okay, okay, I get it!" Allen snapped, praying to the universe that they didn't see his blush. "No need to get all mushy with me!"_

"One thing remains perfectly clear, despite everything…" Prussia started, bringing Allen back from his little trip down memory lane. "You two must be very careful whenever you come here, and you mustn't let your guard down. One mistake could ruin _everything_."

With _that_ warning, the atmosphere turned even gloomier, even Chops was feeling it, Allen reckoned. Speaking of Chops, he looked depressed. It made Allen's frown deepen. Meanwhile Brunnette Hungary said nothing and bit her lip as she looked down at the ground, not sure what to do.

But, you know, no pressure. Still…

"Gil's right. You better be more careful here from now on, Al. I'm worried about you" Allen frowned, for once letting his worry show in his voice and face, but he made up for it by glaring at Brunette Hungary "And you… Knockoff Erszi… You better be as damn honest and genuine as Alfie says you are, 'cuz lady or not, if anyone hurts Chops-

"Allen…" Alfred said in exasperation.

"What? I'm just saying-"

"Just… stop…" Alfred pleaded, rubbing his temples, and he stared at Allen in… disappointment? "Can't you at least _try_ not to act like a jerk to my friends for once? Please, dude? You don't see me trash-talking _your_ other friends even when a couple of them treat humans like garbage, do I?"

Allen flinched at the way his buddy spoke to him, feeling like he just got slapped in the face. "I-I…"

"I… I think I need some alone time, dudes…" Alfred turned around and stared to walk away. "See you later, I guess…"

"W-Wait! Come back! Alfred, I didn't mean to…!"

/ / / / /

_(Deltarune OST: Quiet Autumn)_

This wasn't going as well as America hoped it would.

The blonde-haired cowboy sighed in disappointment and plopped down on a bench not far from the bridge, needing some alone time after that less-than-ideal meeting. He hoped Allen would understand. Man, this really sucked. Guess he should've known things would've have gone the way he wanted. He only learned that time and time again…

He was not expecting to come back to the Dark World with his new travel buddy in a terrible time. It wasn't the first time he came to find Allen pulling his hair out over politics, and they have met each other during times of war. Whether it's the World Wars, Civil Wars, Vietnam War on America's side, North American War on Allen's side… they always found a way to make time for each other.

They always kept each other sane no matter how bad things got… Allen looked out for him, and America did the same for him. When of them was hurt, the other dude would always drop everything and meet up with each other to give comfort and stuff…

But he was hoping, kinda stupidly now that he really thought about it, that things would be okay in the Dark World when he brought along Hungary. He wanted her first trip to be a day she'll never forget… in a good way, obviously!

He was hoping they'd have all sorts of fun together with the gang here. Like… Like go on helicopter tours while Allen and Flavio wrestle for the controls and nearly crash into the Empire State Building. Or play canasta! Or… Or… try to climb the Statue of Justice (long story)! Or even better, go watch G.I. Joe the Musical!

The whole reason why he brought his new buddy here was because he wanted to share his special place with her. He wanted Hungary to have fun. He wanted her to be happy. Sure, she'd have to learn about the situation with Dark World Italy at some point, but not like this!

Not when there's a big chance he and Allen would go to war which will then turn into basically World War II but worse….

Not in such a bad, super stressful time and now Allen's _stressed out_ and America _knew_ how his lookalike was when he's totally stressed out…

He totally let his new buddy down.

"You know, I really never took you for someone who'd mope, Alfred. Brood, maybe, but not mope." A voice like bells remarked. America flinched, and he looked to see _Hungary_ standing before him with a sympathetic smile. "You're always too optimistic for that. But I guess we all have our moments…"

America blinked, stunned that she looked so happy. She looked so down in the dumps a couple of minutes ago back there. Who wouldn't, though?

"Uhhh…"

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Hungary asked politely, still smiling. "I _think_ you need some company. I know you said you wanted some alone time, but I don't think moping here all by yourself will make things better."

"N-No, go ahead…" America gestured to the spot next to him.

"Thank you, Alfred." She sat down to his left, dusting off her colorful skirt, and she leaned back, letting out a sigh.

America was almost jealous at how chill Hungary was with this, especially compared to how she reacted to all the other stuff. But if she actually was just as bummed and nervous as he was, then wow, she's doing a great job hiding it.

For a while the two of them just sat there, just two outsiders in a world so different yet so similar from theirs, two people who didn't belong here, one cowboy and a Hungarian in folk dress, two buddies dealing with the fact that their little hideaway might get destroyed if the nations here didn't solve their problems. The silence between them wasn't awkward in any way, but it was a little weird hearing the trio's arguing from here.

Honestly, he didn't mind the silence. Even someone as loud and talkative as him, and for all his love of blasting his favorite songs in his car and stuff, he loved some peace and quiet, especially when he's feeling stressed.

But of course, he'd love talking to Hungary.

Almost as if on cue, Hungary turned to him with an exasperated smile "Alfred, I know he's your best friend and all, but _god_, your counterpart's a little infuriating.

Despite his mood, America couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah… Sorry about him, Liz. I told you, he's pretty bad with strangers and he's got some trust issues and stuff. And don't get me started on his anger issues, but that's obvious. Oh, and, um, did I mention that he's a little overprotective?"

"Yeah, I noticed…" Hungary snorted, and she crossed her arms as she puffed her cheeks angrily but in a cute way. "Erszi knockoff… Other Erszi… I know we just met, but is that all I am to him? Just a cheap and disappointing version of the Hungary he knows? Can't he just give me a chance?"

"Hey, I'm sure you'll grow on him eventually…" You know, if she still wanted to come here. America smiled nervously. "He really likes your counterpart, and he _sees_ her in you. That's probably why he's so cranky towards you. He's worried that the fact that you're her counterpart will make him let his guard down."

"Make him let his guard down so I'll _what?_ Bite his head off?" Hungary asked skeptically, and she scoffed. "Does he think that the second he acts nice to me, I'll turn into some kind of monster and kill everyone?"

America hummed, recalling some past memories, including one where Allen was totally convinced Cuba was a mermaid just because he hasn't been wearing a shirt. "Well, he is pretty superstitious… and kinda paranoid."

"He's acting as if I'm sort of terrible threat. It's just not fair."

"Yeah, but…" America trailed off, and he narrowed his eyes. Wait, why was he trying to defend Allen? He's mad at him.

But Hungary didn't seem to notice his change of mood. "I mean, I understand that you trust me a great deal with this and that this wasn't an easy decision for you either. If I can understand that, and _you_ trust me, why can't _he_ do the same thing?"

America wringed his gloved hands, frowning. "I told you, he's overprotective and… we just don't always see eye-to-eye on everything. He thinks I'm too nice and forgiving for my own good, and that I'll just get hurt. He knows I'm smart, but sometimes he acts as if I'm actually a moron even though he probably… Allen doesn't like the Lightners, our world's nations. As far as he's concerned, you and the others are just a bunch of delusional, corrupt, hypocritical jerks who can't even stand up to their own humans."

…Which was exactly what the others thought of America.

"Did I mention that he hates that? The fact that we're ordered around by humans, I mean. He keeps convincing me that I should launch a coup against them, heh…" America laughed humorlessly, and he smiled sadly to himself "But still, I… I… love him anyways, and I try to cheer him up and help loosen up as much as I can. And boy, I can't stay mad at him…"

He buried his face in his hands. Oh, god…

Then he felt someone rub his back in comfort. "Hey… Calm down, Alfred… I didn't mean to make you feel bad. And I'm sure… he's a lot more likable than I think. I was just complaining a little, that's all. I'm sure things will get better."

America removed his hands and frowned at Hungary. "I'm sorry, Liz."

She gave him a disapproving look. "You're _still_ on with this?"

"Yeah, I am! I wanted you to have super-rocking-fun-time here in the Dark World with Allen and the others, and instead you get this huge bombshell dropped on ya!" America exclaimed , gripping his head. "Now you're gonna spend every day worried about this world's Italy. I mean, you were gonna find out eventually, but… I didn't want the first to be like this!"

"Oh, for God's sake, Alfred, I told you, you're sweet but _there's_ nothing to apologize for." Hungary lightly smacked him on the shoulder and looked at him stubbornly. "You did nothing wrong, Al. It's not your fault that you took me here at the wrong time. You didn't know."

"But… the thing with Italy… he wants to… and Allen and the others, they're in danger…"

"Yes, I know. But again, I don't blame you."

America stared at her in surprise. This… didn't happen to him often. "But… aren't you worried? This world's Italy, an honest to goodness supervillain, somehow knows about our world and wants to take it over along with _this_ world. Doesn't this make you feel a little scared?"

Hungary snorted, and she managed a small smile. "Oh no, I _am_ worried. _Of course _I'm worried. This is a beautiful world I just discovered and now it turns out that there's a chance it'll get destroyed, and what's more, the same thing just might happen to our world. And I can tell how much this place means to you. But even if you didn't tell me, which I wouldn't have been happy about, it won't magically make the problem go away."

America tensed at that, and he began fidgeting his fingers. That's… a really good point. It wouldn't have fixed anything. But still… "I… Yeah, you're right. I just wanted wasn't expecting any of this mess to happen."

"Well, I didn't either. Guess we were just unlucky we came at a bad time…" Hungary sighed in dismay, and she shrugged. "But I'm used to it, honestly. I've had to deal with a lot of bad luck in my life; it's something Romania even makes fun of me for. And I know you've dealt with it too."

"You're right, I did." America agreed, nodding at that. If only more people realized that… "I just… wanted to cheer you up and share my special with you. I wanted to show you that we can escape from our hard lives. I wanted you to be happy…"

_(Deltarune OST: Friendship)_

"I know you did, and I'm _happy_ that you did all this for _me_, when I'm not even one of your closest friends." Hungary smiled warmly, and a happy feeling blossomed in America's chest at the sight, at the knowledge that made her happy. "Although after today, I think I'd really like to get to know you better and hang out with you more often. You and I really can relate a lot to each other…"

America felt his face brighten, and he finally smiled again. "Really? You mean it, dude? You want to be better friends with the hero?

Hungary grinned, "Now there's the America I know. And yeah, I'd to be better friends with you, strengthen our relations, something we probably should've done years ago. And besides, we are going to be coming here a lot, won't we? We're going to be bonding either way."

"You mean you do want to come here again? Even after…"

"Of course I do! I want to have fun here with _you_." Hungary said earnestly. "Besides, I think you're not looking on the bright side. We had a lot of fun riding through the city on your motorcycle and exploring this park, didn't we?"

America felt his face burn at the mention of his driving skills, and he smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, we totally did…"

America had to smile. "Yeah, you really liked them, didn't ya?"

"Yes, I did! Flavio is… well, I can tell he's flamboyant and probably a metrosexual." Hungary noted in amusement, and she snickered.. "But he's a lot like Poland, so I think I'll like him very much and I'll know how to handle him. _However_, this outfit is great and very stylish, thank you very much…!"

America burst out laughing when he saw her smile like a maniac while she seethed in rage. "Aw, don't get mad at him. Besides I told you that you looked awesome back at the building, right? You have the hero's approval, you know, if it makes you feel any better."

Hungary stopped raging and froze, blinking. "Oh… that's right… you did say that..."

"And you really liked Prussia, didn't ya?" America said cheerfully, oblivious to Hungary's reaction.

"Huh…? Oh. Oh, yes! He's everything Prussia's not… No, not just that. He's everything Prussia _should_ have been." Hungary corrected herself, and America sweatdropped as her eyes gleamed. "Gillen's kind, gentle, polite, serious, calm, patient, mature, pious… Everything a Christian, especially someone who represented a religious military order, _should_ be!"

America laughed nervously, and he hesitantly tried to defend Prussia a little. "Oh, come on, Gilbert's not _that_ bad…"

"I know he was raised by apes and is an ape himself…"

"Lizzy…"

"But honestly, he's such an embarrassment!"

"Okay, now you're exaggerating, dude."

"Hmph, maybe, but the point is, Alfred…" Hungary cleared her throat and smiled gently. "The fact that there's a slight chance that war will break out, which the others apparently prevented multiple times before so this isn't the _first_ time, isn't stopping us from going out and having fun. It's serious and I hoped it gets resolved soon, but is it bad that for now we distract ourselves by having fun?"

Huh… she's right. There's really nothing stopping them from doing what they came here to do, was there?

"And look at this way, if we go out and hang out together, everyone will benefit in a way." Hungary added helpfully. "We'll all have fun just like you wanted, Allen and the others will feel less stressed out… Everyone will be happy."

Yeah… Yeah, that's right!

"Oh, look at me! I'm the one being optimistic and cheering you up when you should be the one doing it!" Hungary shook her head furiously and stood up from the bench. She reached out her hand toward him with a wide grin. "Come on, Al. Are you going to keep sitting there moping all day or are we going to do the very thing we came here to do and have fun?"

America grinned, and he grabbed her hand, standing up as well. "Heck yeah! You're totally right, Lizzy. We should make the best of it and have a rockin' time in this world!

"ALFRED!"

He jumped at the shout of his human name and whirled around to find none other than a dejected Allen wringing his hands nervously while Gillen and Flavio stood behind him expectantly and worriedly respectively. Boy, his redheaded clone sure looked hurt. It was more than enough to make America worry and feel bad for what he said earlier.

"Allen…" America blinked. He couldn't have hurt him that bad, could he?

His dopeygangster… dopplerginger… No, _doppelganger_ swallowed and walked toward him, gazing at America the entire way, which he knew couldn't have been easy. It meant that Allen was truly sorry. That thought made America feel a little better.

"Um… Porkchop… Alfred…" Allen began, much quieter and calmer than usual. "I thought about it a little, you know since I'm a stubborn bastard, and I talked it over with Gil and Flavio, and I realized you're right. I've been a huge jerk, not just to Ers… _your_ Hungary, but even to you. I'm sorry, but I've just been so… Wait, no. I'm not gonna make any excuses. I'm sorry, Al…"

America frowned at this. "Allen, listen. I'm glad that you know that you did was wrong, but I shouldn't have said what I said, dude. I should've… handled that better."

"Oh, come on, Alfred. See? You see what I mean? This is why I'm worried about you!" Allen exclaimed, upset again, and he poked a finger at Alfred's chest. "You forgive people way too easily! Now you listen, I'm the one who was really in the wrong. I deserved getting called out like that after all the times I insulted your shitty… I mean your _buddies_ from the Light World! I know I'd be upset if someone I like kept shitting on my pals."

"What's wrong with wanting to forgive people?" America exclaimed in offense. "I don't blame you for not forgiving evil dudes like England or Spain but all that hate kept inside your heart can be really bad for ya, you know! And anyway, I should also be sorry. I should've understood that you were stressed out and you couldn't help yourself and _then_ tell you in a nicer way to stop being so rude! You're going through a lot more stuff than I am right now!

"So what if I was stressed out? That's no excuse for acting like an ass! And nicer? Oh come on, how was I supposed to learn with you sweetly telling me 'Oh Allen, I don't think it's very nice that you call my world's Hungary a knockoff'. I'm too stubborn for that kind of approach!"

"It's not like I would've done it like that!"

"Yes, you would!"

"Oh here they go again…" Flavio said in exasperation.

"What? What's wrong?" Hungary asked curiously.

"Whenever those two have an argument or get mad at each other and then inevitably make up, they always argue over who should _really_ be apologizing." Gillen explained as the two Americas argued. "Instead of the usual 'it's your fault' argument, this is a 'but it's actually my fault' sort of argument. It sounds more pleasant, but it gets exasperating after a while."

"It's only my fault and only mine, dammit!"

"No, it's also mine!"

"SILENCE!" Gillen bellowed, and the two Americas froze in place. The silver-haired priest stomped over to them, scowling. "Ja, Alfred should've phrased his words a little better, but it's mostly Allen's who's in the wrong because of his rude behavior! End of discussion!"

"Yes, sir…" The two of them said quickly.

Man, Gillen's scary…

"Now then…" Gillen sighed and glanced behind America and then at the redhead. "Allen, I believe there's one more person who you're supposed to apologize to…"

America's eyes widened. Oh, right, Hungary! He looked at his Light World buddy and found her smiling. It looked like she was looking forward to this. He saw Allen grimace and reluctantly walk over to Hungary.

"I'm… sorry for being kind of an ass to you." Allen said clearly, and he reached out his hand for Hungary to shake, expression grumpy. "Can we, I dunno, start over or something?"

America smiled, and he was sure he heard someone facepalm behind him. Hey, in Allen's defense, that turned out to be a better apology than he expected!

In fact, Hungary looked happy with this! She winked at America and smiled a little mysteriously at Allen. "I'll forgive you, but on one condition."

Allen immediately scowled. "I'm listening… reluctantly…"

"I'd like you to call me by my human name Elizaveta, or Liz or Lizzy, whatever you prefer. I don't want to be called Knockoff Erszi or anything like that. If you're really sorry, you'll stop calling me those names and use my real name."

"Really? That's all you want?" Allen raised an eyebrow, but he shrugged. "Sure okay. I'll use your human name from now on."

"Then I forgive you." Hungary nodded, taking Allen's hand, and she smiled more kindly. "I hope we can get along, for Alfred's sake at least."

"Yeah, same here…" Allen agreed a little grudgingly, and he smirked. "But… I'm still gonna be keeping an eye on you though, you're not _that_ lucky. But I'll try not to be such an ass while doing it."

Two people facepalmed this time, while America just grinned. This was going so well!

Hungary's eyebrow twitched, but she kept smiling anyways. "Well, if that's what it'll take to get you to trust me…"

Flavio clapped his hands, getting everyone's attention, and he smiled excitedly. "Okay, everyone, now that that's settled, how about we got back to the penthouse to play poker and canasta and order some pizza?"

Everyone cheerfully agreed.

"Ooh, pizza? Sweet! Race ya there, Allen!" America challenged as he ran off, grabbing Hungary's hand. "Come on, Liz, to the motorcycle!"

"You're on, Alfred! Loser gets to pay for the pizza!" Allen dared as he sped off after them.

"What? Don't turn this into a competition, you two! We don't need another accident!" Gillen barked as he ran after the others.

"Oh, Elizaveta, when we get back to the penthouse, maybe I can give you some tips to fix your tacky fashion sense!" Flavio cheerfully suggested as he ran next to Hungary.

"Hey, I love these clothes! And it's not like I chose to wear this in the first place!" Hungary squawked in indignation.

And so, the five nations, Lightners and Darkners, ran off to have their fun, determined to make the best of things while they still could.

/ / / / /

_Meanwhile… In the same world… but in a different country…_

_(Deltarune OST: Cliffs)_

A uniformed nation with cruel violet eyes and a certain curl kicked the door to his brother's flamboyant room opened. He had just come back to the country after discussing a few certain important things with Japan for the coming future, and his brother was nowhere to be found.

He went in, not caring that he'll get an earful for it, and looked and furiously.

His brother wasn't here.

Which meant…

He gritted his teeth and gripped one of his knives.

His stupid brother went off without telling him to hang out with those idiots, didn't he?

That… ungrateful little….

He stopped himself from finishing that thought, but he kept gripping his deadly knife tightly, if only to stop himself from tearing this whole place _apart_. No matter… Romano always came back eventually, and when he comes back, he'll have a word with him about his plan.

Whether Romano liked it or not.

There won't be any escape this time.

Italy will make sure of it.

**Heh... Uh-Oh... Well, the next chapter (and maybe even the one after) will be dedicate to show the group bonding and explaining a bit more stuff about the Dark World. It'll be more lighthearted like the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review if you have a minute.**


	6. Comparisons

**Thanks to HelloThereHowAreYou and NadiaJA627 for reviewing. Sorry for the late update, I was still figuring out how to continue in the next chapter and I was also writing other projects I have in mind. I hope this is a good bonding chapter. Now, on with the show!**

_(Deltarune OST: School)_

Oh, for the love of Buddha, where the hell did her heroic chipmunk go?!

Her long hair whipping around as she darted her head from one side to the next, an even further frustrated Taiwan grumpily crossed her arms and groaned at her lack of results in the search for one of her best friends. Aw man, this was going nowhere! She's been at this, scouring the building for America for… uh… _some time_… and Taiwan hasn't seen any sign of the star-spangled nation.

Also, she's pretty sure that she's a little lost right now… Which floor was she on again? Twelfth? Sixteenth? Taiwan didn't really check, and she didn't really remember where the elevators were. Was it this way or…

Served her right for being a poor planner. Honestly, Taiwan's sure she's usually smarter than this!

At first she ran through the halls blindly, not really going anywhere specific, as she hoped to at some point bump into America, or maybe Hungary, who could tell her where the guy went (and maybe, just maybe, explain why she's suddenly hanging out with America). Oh, then she could find Vietnam or another friend of hers to help her out.

Taiwan quickly realized this was a poor strategy, as she found nothing in the first ten minutes, and she got easily frustrated with this, so she abandoned that strategy in favor of just sweetly asking around for if they'd seen America. She asked anyone she came across…

…And it went just as well one might expect.

The first nation she went to for help, Indonesia, was still a _wee_ bit upset with Taiwan over the whole forced labor allegations that surfaced not that long ago… That, and she was arguing with Malaysia again. So, Taiwan ended awkwardly walking away while those two bickered.

After that first failure, Taiwan momentarily brightened when she found Hong Kong, and she tried to get his attention. But he just whooshed past her with some kind of water gun (or maybe even a paint gun), only yelling that he's gonna get revenge China because he blamed him for some new law or something…

Sure, Taiwan felt bummed, but at least China's day will get even worse, so it's all good.

Shrugging it off, she continued cheerfully skipping along when she saw one of her besties, Nicaragua, but it turned out she was busy screaming and giving Costa Rica a wedgie while the other Central Americans either argued or tried to get Nicaragua to let him go. Costa Rica looked oddly happy though… Well, Taiwan wouldn't want to interrupt them…

Wanting to get away from the screaming as soon as possible, Taiwan walked away briskly, pretending that she never saw any of… that. Then after a bit more walking, she came across Vietnam. And what do you know? She's arguing with Cambodia. Once again, Taiwan didn't really feel like intruding, so…

Bye-bye.

Goodness was _everyone_ fighting with their respective rival or nemesis today?! What's with everyone? It's like they took a level in jerkass or something! Did someone light their fuse? Did they have a rough night? Did someone ruffle their feathers?

The universes' answer to Taiwan's question was what sounded like trembling. She blinked then glanced to the side when she paled and yelped in alarm before getting out of the way just like she did earlier with the whole koala and sheep fiasco. Except this time instead it was South Korea crying and running for his life as he was chased by about a dozen angry Middle Eastern nations screaming at him.

Taiwan was left speechless and stuck against the wall in shock at this weird moment, before she groaned and facepalmed as she realized what this could only mean. Oh, darn it, South Korea. Did he grope the male Muslim nations… _again?_

She'll… just pretend she never saw that too.

_Anyway_, just as Taiwan began to think she'll never find someone she'll be able to talk to, as if the universe decided to spare her for once, she bumped into Vatican City, another one of her besties. Taiwan eagerly asked her if she knew where America and/or Taiwan was… only for her other bestie to smile sadly and shake her head.

Oh… she should've _known_ the universe wouldn't be so merciful!

And so began another pattern, where Taiwan just failed over and over again… not too different from her life, actually. She ran into Macau, who was nice enough to offer a few words of comfort, but it turned out that he didn't know where America or Hungary were either.

Taiwan then approached Morocco, a charming man, who looked like he was in a mild argument with Algeria over a lamp that supposedly had a genie (or maybe it's something else less silly, Taiwan's skills with Arabic were super rusty and it's _hopeless_ with the many derivations). It didn't look like anything serious, so she asked them if they've seen America or Hungary…

…And they didn't.

_Great_.

Reluctantly (out of desperation), Taiwan decided to nicely ask Serbia when she found him, and maybe smack him on the back of the head for her friend Kosovo. But she quickly regretted it in the first three seconds of the conversation. Serbia scowled like the pompous bastard he was and barked that 'How the hell am I supposed where that ass is, you disrespectful brat?! What do you think I am, his secretary?'

That unnecessary insult and the amount of jerkass in his attitude eliminated any and all second thoughts Taiwan had over smacking him, and she promptly called him a dick in Mandarin and stomped on his foot before stomping away with Serbia's pained groans in the background.

Poor Kosovo, having to deal with a jerk for an older brother too…

But just as she was about to go around a corner, she stopped in her tracks when she nearly crashed into Bosnia and Herzegovina, who were apparently lured by the sounds of Serbia's suffering. Taiwan mentally prepared herself for failure and she politely asked them if they've seen America or Hungary.

"Da, we did, actually."

Oh, darn it! Taiwan threw her arms up in frustration and began stomping away when she did a double take. She blinked. Wait… did they say yes? Did they really say yes? Could it really be truly? Did she hear them right?

Taiwan swiftly turned on her heel and sped back to the surprised Bosnia and Herzegovina, eyes sparkling with joy and hope. "Wait, did you say yes? You know where they went?"

Bosnia nodded after inhaling from his cigarette. "Da, that's right. We saw America and Hungary not that long ago, running through the halls. They sped past us, gave us a bit of a scare, and we never saw them again. Looks like they just came from downstairs and wanted to go up though."

YES! Answers! Results! The universe wasn't completely evil after all!

Okay, so it looked like they were coming from downstairs and that they wanted to go up… yes… perfect… Except Taiwan wasn't even sure which floor she was in. Maybe Bosnia and Herzegovina knew which floor they're in!

"However, as for where exactly they were going and why, we're just as clueless as you are." Herzegovina continued after she snatched her husband's cigarette away, giving him an icy glare before looking back at Taiwan calmly. "This is the 30th floor, and it looked like they were going up, so it seems logical that you go check the above floors and their respective rooms."

Taiwan squealed in delight, and she bounced. "Yes, perfect! I'll just go check the rooms above and the rooms there for Alfred!"

"…Erm, isn't that what I just said?"

"Whatever. Which way can you go upstairs?" Taiwan asked eagerly, looking left and right.

"Just go down the hall over there, girlie. The stairs are right at the end of it." Bosnia pointed to the hallway behind Taiwan, and then sent a pleading look to his strict wife. "And can I please have my cigarette back?"

"For the last time, you're not allowed to smoke in this building!" Herzegovina yelled at her husband.

"Oh, thank you so much, you two!" Taiwan grinned brightly as she strongly shook Herzegovina's hand, beyond overjoyed. "If you two ever want an all-expenses paid trip to Taipei, just give me a call! Recognize me as a country and trips to my country will be free forever!

Bosnia stopped moping over his lost cigarette and perked up. "Wait, did you say free?"

Herzegovina elbowed her husband in the gut.

Giving one last grin, Taiwan once again turned on her heel and sped away in the direction towards where the stairs should be, leaving a trail of dust behind her. Tee-hee-hee! America, here she come! She might a good day just yet!

Taiwan ran up the stairs, careful not to trip and injure herself, and she quickly reached the next floor. Feeling more pumped than ever and not willing waste any time, she went ahead and started checking each of the rooms, even calling America's name in hopes that he'll answer….

And the result? Nothing.

She puffed her cheeks in frustration, but there's no way she's going to give up just yet. Somewhere, in this building filled with greedy jerks who won't recognize her over some senile old fart, was a tall, handsome, kind blonde nation who had trouble reading the atmosphere waiting for her to run into her arms along with… Hungary.

Speaking of whom, Taiwan _really_ hoped the whole situation with those two was not what she feared it was. It's probably just her paranoia getting the best of her again. And besides, it's not like those two were like best friends or anything, and that probably (hopefully) won't change anytime soon. But she needed to know the truth about what's going on with them! _So that's why she had to find them!_

After checking the last room on the floor she's in and found the same thing as the other rooms (AKA nothing), Taiwan let out a big sigh and rubbed her poor head. Oh, good grief, her heroic chipmunk's not here!

Well, time to check the next floor!

Taiwan smiled, refusing to let this failure get to her, and she bounced her way up to the next flight of stairs. Oh well, there's still, like, what, eighteen or nineteen more floors to go and search for America? Yeah, she could do this! She-

"E-Excuse me, Miss Taiwan?"

At the sound of that ghostly voice sending chills down her back, Taiwan shrieked in horror and spun around, ready to clock the creep who dared sneak up on her right in the face. But her fist only ended up punching air, and she heard a yelp.

She blinked before looking down to find none other than…

"AMERICA!" Taiwan jumped and immediately ran up to the blonde and nearly tackled him in a hug. "Oh, I'm so sorry for nearly punching you! If I had any idea that it was you, then I never would've- Wait a minute."

Taiwan knew her sweetheart (more than she probably should), and she'd be a fool if she mistook someone else for the hero himself. So, once she got a good look at 'America', she immediately knew something was off.

For starters, this guy she was currently hugging didn't have nearly as much _muscle_. He felt too scrawny, like China. Also, she clearly remembered America wearing his bomber jacket and not a silly blue sweater. There's no reason why he'd change into something so _unfashionable_. Also also, the hair looked off, and this man's expression was too nervous and doormat-ish for someone as cool as America.

"Who the heck are you?"

"U-Um, y-yeah, I'm not America. I'm Canada, his brother, remember?" The faker explained shakily with a nervous smile on his face. "Oh Maple, why does this still happen? At least it only took a few seconds to-"

"…Who?" Taiwan asked in utter bafflement. Was this guy serious? "Listen, I'm very sorry, I've never heard of any country called Canadia before. Are you sure you're not part of the clone project Kiku keeps talking about?"

Canada squeaked and shook his head. "I'm not a clone! I'm telling you, I'm America's brother! How can you not remember me?"

"Well, you don't seem like someone people would bother remembering, to be honest." Taiwan commented innocently as she tried to wrack her brain for answers.

"W-Well! You've been avoiding me for months and you even made fun of me when Saudi Arabia froze our relations!" The guy claimed as he desperately tried to help Taiwan remember who he was. "You know, b-because of what happened with the airport or something like that...?"

"Airlines… Huh, that actually sounds kind of familiar… Oh… um… let's see… Ooh, I think I've got it!" Taiwan's face brightened, and the guy's eyes glimmered with hope. "Hey, isn't your name Cabana?"

The blonde immediately deflated. "Uh, no."

"Camilla?"

"I-I doubt any nation would be called that."

"Cabin Mana?

"That makes even less sense than the others!"

"…Bob?"

"Maple, that's not even close!"

After hearing the word maple, it finally hit Taiwan like a ton of bricks. "Wait a minute, now I remember! You're that doormat who made your stupid airports display me as a part of China last year!"

Canada flinched at her sudden (and reasonable) hostility, taking a few nervous steps back. "Y-yeah, I am. But like you said, that was a year ago!"

"I still hold a grudge! Also, that a pathetic move and you know it." Taiwan snapped, and she 'hmphed', turning around to continue her search. "I don't know why you want to talk to me, but I'm afraid I have more important things to do. Goodbye and never speak to me again unless you want to recognize me as a nation."

As she began to leave, she heard Canada call her for her.

"N-No, wait! Please don't leave! You're looking for Alfred, right?"

Taiwan's eyes widened and she spun around, glaring at Canada. "Yes. What's it to you?"

"W-Well, I'm looking for him too. He's been missing for a bit of a while and I want to find him before Artie gets too cranky." Canada explained hastily, gulping. "I don't suppose you've seen him anywhere, have you eh?"

Maybe it was her frustration, her annoyance with Canada or maybe just her whole day, but Taiwan couldn't help but give a sarcastic remark. "Yes, Canada, about a half-hour ago. But now I've hidden him again so that _you_ can find him."

Hah, got that from one of America's sitcoms from the eighties! Those were classic!

Canada's shoulders drooped, along with his curl, sighing. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. But the point is, I think I now where we can find him, and I thought maybe you'd like to-"

Taiwan didn't need to hear any more. She stomped toward him and dragged him down by the collar. "You know where to find Alfred?"

"Uh-huh, so-"

"Perfect! Lead the way, then!

"But wait, I-"

_"Lead the way!"_

"Y-Yes ma'am!"

/ / / / /

_(Pokémon Black and White OST: Castelia City)_

The 'race' to Allen's house was all a blur in Hungary's mind. _Probably_ because Hungary spent the entire trip laughing her ass off and cheering on America while they tried to lose the trio of Darkners in the busy streets of New York… and because they were going _way_ past the speed limit so it's a miracle they didn't crash into anything/anyone or wound up with the police on their trail. But she didn't mind, she just knew she had tons of fun.

According to America, the apartment building where Allen lived in was somewhere on West Side… or was it the Upper East Side? It was kind of hard to hear with all the noise, but it apparent takes twelve to twenty minutes to get there, depending on traffic. That allowed plenty of time to nearly run over pedestrians, and to perform a couple of cool stunts.

Also, it was _pretty_ hilarious racing in dangerous speeds while a red Infiniti with shouting and screaming coming from within trying to catch up to them. Oh my, those three liked to bicker a lot, didn't they? It's nice to see they loved each other despite their differences… too bad it's in a platonic way.

Anyway, Hungary wasn't going to lie, she felt rather proud of herself for being able to help bring America out of his mopey attitude and go back to his usual self after the blonde himself helped her out with cheering her up twice. Admittedly, her first idea was to slam Allen's head with her frying pan for acting like such a douche and upsetting America, but then she of course realized that there were _better_ ways to resolve this without the use of her favorite weapon.

She couldn't stand seeing him in such a depressed mood, it's so _unlike_ him. It just wasn't America, and it broke her heart to see him like that when he was so happy a while ago… Oh, curse Hungary's damn unluckiness! Why did it have to hurt those around her too?

And that sweet, silly, boy… he was really that upset and depressed because of the unexpected news of this world's Italy, because he was scared that all this shocking information, which Hungary will admit was a large bombshell, ruined their little trip for her. He was upset because he thought she'd be upset.

Oh, Alfred…

Why did he have to care so much for her? Maybe Allen did have a (teensy weensy) bit of a point back there, maybe America was too nice and caring for his own good. Oh no, no, no, no, don't be ridiculous, Hungary! America's sweetness despite all the stress he's going through lately was really impressive! Not a lot of nations were this sweet these days and she should appreaciate that he actually cared so much her.

It felt nice, repaying him for his kindness. She still felt indebted to him, and Hungary had no idea how she's going to return the favor after showering her with this much kindness. Although America would probably sweetly assure her that she didn't need to do anything in return and that he's only being the hero, but Hungary's still determined to do so.

…Somehow… hopefully…

So, after a few more minutes, they eventually arrived at their destination in… _whoa, that's a tall building_.

Hungary felt her mouth drop at the sight of the ginormous apartment building as America slowed down and pulled over. Wow, nice, very nice. Wait, had she seen this building before at some point? Didn't America have an apartment in a similar.

She was abruptly brought out of her thoughts when she heard America's boisterous laugh. The blonde cowboy took off his helmet, blowing his currently longer hair blow out of his way, and he looked back at Hungary to grin at her.

"Alright, we did it, Lizzy!" America beamed, flashing her a thumbs-up. "We beat the Trinity Trio, dude! Sweet! I get to keep ten bucks!"

Hungary blinked, and glanced around before realizing that America's right, they did beat the Darkners. She grinned back in delight. "Oh my, you're right! We're the first ones to arrive here, Alfred! We won the race!"

Great! That ought to humble Allen a little bit more… or make him angry with her for no good reason again. Oh, whatever. Even if Hungary didn't do much except warn America not to hit any pedestrians and laugh her ass off, it still felt good to win this silly little competition! It helped cheer up America even more too.

"Yeah, go Team Super Lightners!" America cheered, pumping his fist in the air.

As she removed her helmet, Hungary couldn't help but sputter at the cheesy name for their 'team'. "Team Super Lightners? Is that what we're called now?"

"Duh, 'cause we're Lightners and _super_ cool!" America said brightly, while Hungary could only smile at his energy. Well, both of those things were true… "Yeah, not my best work, but I'll come up with something better eventually."

"So are we supposed to be superheroes now? It really sounds like it." Hungary asked in amusement. And it would fit, considering the importance of keeping their identities secret.

"Well, why not, dude? Never know when the day's gonna need saving." America smiled, before it morphed into a small frown as he glanced around at their surroundings. "Anyway, where's Al, Gil, and Flavio? I was super sure they weren't that far behind us, but I don't see them anywhere."

Hungary looked around as well, and she sweatdropped when she realized that America's right. She didn't see any sign of the Darkner's car anywhere. Where did those three went off to?

But then suddenly the two heard an extremely car honk, and the red car that belonged to the trio appeared out of nowhere speeding towards them, much to their horror. Hungary shrieked, much to her own embarrassment. What the hell was that?!

Hungary found herself being pulled out of the way by an alarmed America, only for the car to reel to a sudden stop a little far from where they were originally standing. Oh, thank goodness. She sighed in relief, she really liked this outfit… Oh, and no one got hurt!

"I guess they got stuck in traffic…" America laughed nervously.

After a few more seconds of stunned silence with nothing but the sound of all the cars in the background (Also, why was no one staring at them? Was this normal in New York City?), the doors of the car opened, allowing a disgruntled Allen grumbling under his breath, an even more exasperated and disheveled Gillen (poor man), and an oddly happy and calm Flavio step out of the vehicle.

"We have arrived~" Flavio cheerfully announced rather unnecessarily. He then spotted the shocked duo, and he smiled as he waved at him. "Oh, those two did beat us to it after all. Ciao again you two! Congratulations on winning!"

Allen scoffed, and he glared at the blonde Italian in what looked like resentment. "I dunno why you're so surprised, we gave them a huge fucking head start when you stopped to stare at the sales on H&M… **_TWICE!_**"

"But what _matters_ is that we're all here… alive and in one piece." Gillen said firmly, giving Allen a stern stare, before he smiled at Hungary and America. "S-So, I trust you had a… _safe_ enough trip to this building?"

Hungary's mouth twitched, and she nearly wanted to laugh nervously. "Well…"

"Don't ya worry, Gillen! Me and Liz had a blast riding through the city, and I didn't break anything this time too!" America stated happily with a blinding grin. Yes… wait, what? "What about you guys? Did y'all have fun and stuff?"

Gillen's reaction to being asked that question was a slight grimace. He didn't look too sure and didn't seem too eager to answer.

"I don't know about you, Gillen, but I had a lot of fun!" Flavio chirped as he pushed up his sunglasses. "And did you see how many shops had sales today? Oh, and Miss Elizaveta, I think I saw a few dresses and skirts that could help improve your appearance!"

Hungary's shoulders dropped, and she glared at that damn flamboyant Italian. He's _still_ on with that?

America then laughed in his usual manner, and gently put his hand on Hungary's shoulder. "Aw, don't be so mean, Flavio. I think Liz's dress is totes cool and awesome!"

Thank you!

"So, looks like I won this battle, Allen!" America smugly announced to his grumpy punk counterpart, and he slung an around his true twin's shoulder. "Man, but wow, I really thought you'd at least cut in front of us once, but you didn't! You're no match for the hero! Point: Me!"

Allen was absolutely fuming, and he blew his bad boy hair out of his face, then he tried to play it 'cool'. "Yeah, yeah, don't go rubbin' it in my face, Alfie, it's not cool. You got lucky this time, Al, that's what. I so woulda caught up to you faster if it weren't for the shitty traffic."

America simply laughed and patted his doppelganger's back while Allen kept growling like a grizzly bear. It was a very amusing scene, Hungary snorted. Wow, she should've known Allen was a bit of a sore loser. Still, she'd seen a lot worse. Poland would always throw all the chess pieces away every time Lithuania beat him in a game, which was all the time.

"And we _so_ would've won the damn race if Gil had just let me drive and _not_ let the cars cut in front of us!" Allen raged, fingers twitching as he glared in a comically ferocious way at poor Gillen, who didn't look the tinniest bit fazed. Looked like he's too used to this. "Seriously, Gil, we coulda saved like ten, fifteen bucks if you _just_ let me drive!"

Hungary gawked at them in surprise. Wait, Allen wasn't driving? Well… that could explain the lack of screaming… and accidents. He did seem like the type who'd drive all recklessly and dangerously fast like Italy always did.

"Nein, we _so_ would've lost the race and gotten ourselves killed if I had let you drive." Gillen replied flatly, glaring at Allen like an annoyed Germany. "And, honestly, ten to fifteen American dollars is nothing to us. Besides, you forget Alfred and Ers- Elizaveta are our guests, so it's only common courtesy we treat them."

Allen sort of cringed, as if that didn't occur to him, but he kept scowling. "S-Sure, but I still have my damn pride, Gil! And besides, I'm more pissed at how long it took us to get here than losing the damn race!"

"Oh, come now, Allen, it wasn't that bad." Gillen tried to convince him, sighing.

But Allen wasn't having any of it. "Come on, you can't seriously fucking tell me that you enjoyed seeing Flavio get off-track every time he saw an H&M, Nordstrom, Macy's, Old Navy and even Sunglasses Hut 'cause he wanted to buy some junk!"

Now it was Gillen's turn to cringe as his eyes darted a little nervously to Flavio. "I… well…"

Flavio squeaked indignantly, and he lightly thwacked the back of Allen's head. "WHAT? _JUNK?_ Excuse me, bambino, but clothes and sunglasses are not junk! They're fabulous and the stores had all those things _on sale!_ How could I resist?"

Allen winced and rubbed the back of his head before scowling at the Italian again. "For starters, by reminding yourself that we'd keep our guests _waiting_, which according to you, Signor Good Manners, _is very rude and improper_. Or were all those years of lecturing and scolding just bullshit?"

And now Flavio cringed, realizing that Allen had a really good point for once, and he looked to Gillen for help, who was less than pleased. "But Gillen said that we could go shopping after we visited Alfredo!"

Prussia blushed red and sighed. "Alright, true, I did say that. But-"

"Yeah, well, now you can't go be a shopaholic until Alfred and his buddy here go home!" Allen retorted before turning to the Lightner duo with a begging look. "Which reminds me, please don't fucking leave."

As the three descended into a silly argument, Hungary sweatdropped at the sight. Good God, for how close those three seem to be, they could sure bicker a lot. Yes, maybe it was expected, considering their clashing personalities, but still…

She looked at America exasperatedly. "Alfred, please tell me this doesn't happen that often."

"Aw, don't worry, most of the time the arguing doesn't last long and it's totally harmless." America waved it off with a big smile on his face. "I think they're all just tired and want to have a nice big break, y'know?"

'Like us', Hungary suddenly realized.

"Alright, ENOUGH!" Gillen bellowed, red in the face and gritting his teeth. "Romano, we have guests here, we can go shopping later after we all spend some time together bonding. Allen, there's no point being angry at Flavio. Can we please just go inside?"

After that whole matter was finally resolved and Allen grudgingly accepted paying for the pizza, the redhead barked for them to get inside and follow him 'cause he really needed some coffee'. Hungary found herself doing just that and while inside she gave a puzzled look when they passed by the manager, a very old man, sleeping on his chair. But the others payed him no mind, Oh... but he's still alive right?

The others must've saw the look on her face, because Allen snorted. "Aw, don't worry about old Murray here. He's always sleeping on the damn job. What'd you expect from an eighty-year-old geezer? On the bright side, it makes the whole sneaking you and Al in easier."

Then how on earth did that human still have his job? Shouldn't he be retired? Was Allen completely fine with this? He looked _too_ fine with this...

"But... he's still alive, right?" Hungary couldn't help but ask, because she really couldn't see or hear the old man breathing.

"Pssh, of course he is..." Allen scoffed, waving it off, before an uncertain expression appeared on his face. "…I think? I dunno, maybe? I'm not smelling any death, though..."

Gillen, for what had to be the hundredth time today, looked at Allen disapprovingly before sighing and walking over to the hopefully not dead human. The Prussian priest rang the bell three times, and the human moaned, stirring, but he didn't wake up.

He gave them a deadpan look. "I think he's alive."

O…kay?

So, after that awkward situation, everyone went into the fancy elevator. Thankfully, no one was inside, but Hungary and America were still instructed by Gillen to hide their faces just in case a human stepped in. Wouldn't want to give any residents a heart attack, after all.

And then the doors finally opened.

And to say Hungary was impressed would be an understatement.

_(Jet Set Radio Future OST: Aisle Ten)_

Wow…

Hungary was no stranger to fancy houses and whatnot, she used to live with Austria after all. But nowadays and for the past few decades she'd spent in simple and average houses, never something outrageously expensive or extravagant. It just wasn't in her comfort zone.

So imagine her surprise when the elevator doors opened to reveal that Allen lived in pretty expensive-looking penthouse… Huh, it looked like she forgot that both of the Americas seem to have a lot money. But it didn't really look like a place someone like Allen would live in. No offense, but Hungary honestly thought he lived in a simple apartment like America, only a bit messier and likely riddled with punkish décor.

America beamed at her and nudged her shoulder, looking just happy at the look on her face. "What do you think? Pretty cool, huh? Allen's pretty loaded, and he's owned this place for like sixty years!"

"And without any old human geezers to cut me off or tell me what to do, I can do _whatever I want_ with it." Allen smirked proudly before glancing at Gillen and Flavio and then grimacing in discomfort. "You know, as long as it's okay with these two."

"The last time we let you use your money unchecked; you purchased a giant drill and bribed the police to arrest all the hosts from _The View_ on false charges." Gillen deadpanned, obviously displeased with Allen's actions.

"_Hey_, I was doing the country a favor by getting rid of them!"

"I really wasn't expecting you to live in a place like this, Allen." Hungary said in awe as she looked around, and she smiled dryly at America. "And I don't get why you didn't bother mentioning that he lived in a penthouse."

"Hey, ain't nothing wrong with living in swanky places from time to time." Allen remarked dryly, grinning smugly.

"And would you hit me if I said that I wanted keep it as a surprise?" America asked with a shaky smile, his nervous laughter gave him away.

Hungary snorted, of course he wanted to keep it as a surprise. "No, no, I wouldn't."

"Cool. Because it's exactly that!

Allen clapped his hands. "Okay people, go ahead and make yourselves at home or whatever. I'll go order the damn pizza. Alfred, go show that buddy of yours around or something. We can have our guy time later."

/ / / / /

_(Final Fantasy VI: Coin of Fate)_

When Gillen first saw her, the Hungary from the Light World, he could honestly say he had his breath taken away.

He had just saw Erszi not that long ago, and now here she was, but it wasn't _her_. Did that sentence even make sense? Oh, but then again, none of this whole thing regarding two worlds, one filled with light and the other with darkness, one with a blinding yellow sun and the other with a harmless red sun, didn't make any logical sense either.

He sometimes wondered to himself what God intended to achieve by creating two dimensions, each having a different Earth with a different history. There couldn't be another God, it wouldn't make sense. There was only one God, and He was the who created the universe, which included the two dimensions. But what was His goal? What did HE intend to achieve with the different Earths?

Did HE love His creations so much that He created a near copy of it all? Did He wanted to see which Earth would have the better or less worse humanity? Did He, the all-knowing being, foresaw that humanity as well as nations would bring the world into endless chaos, and wanted to see if humanity would be better beings if he created a different Earth, ensuring that things would go differently?

If so, then which world was the doomed one, and which one was the test? Or were they both doomed? Was there yet another Earth or Earths that God created in hopes of seeing his creations finally getting along in one of them?

Gillen sighed, shaking his head. Oh, he truly hoped the two worlds won't discover each other. The religious communities would argue or kill each other non-stop over it.

Well, there was no point trying to deduce what God could be planning. It wasn't his place to assume or jump to conclusions…

Ah, but he didn't intend to go off on a religious monologue trying to figure out an explanation for all of this. He had been thinking about Hungary.

Just like when he had first met Alfred, an event Gillen will never forget for the rest of his life, it astonished him how much that woman and her gentler counterpart looked alike. It was truly remarkable. Their faces were identical… Oh of course they were identical, they wouldn't be counterparts if that wasn't the case. But the fact still shocked him, though not in a bad way of course. He was just unused to seeing the people from his world act like completely different people.

He wondered if this awe and shock was what Alfred exactly felt like every time he saw or spoke with the nations of this world, to see the people he had known for years with different physical attributes, different personalities, different histories…

Gillen knew his world's Hungary for centuries, ever since they were little innocent children and he foolishly believed Erszi was a boy despite her exasperatedly claiming otherwise. He remembered spending many years helping defend her land from the cruel Europeans and her spending hours on the flower fields. He remembered trying in vain to train her to defend herself so she wouldn't have to depend on him all the time. He remembered failing to stop her forced marriages with Turkey and then Austria…

He clenched his cross for the umpteenth time today.

So… one could understand the feeling of shock and even awkwardness he was feeling.

Elizaveta had Erszi's face, yes, but the wasn't the only attribute they shared. The gentle, kind sometimes awkward smile on her face was just like Erszi's, and it felt almost surreal seeing it on her counterpart. And those two had the same _spark_ in their eyes, the same kindness and determination, the same will to live life happily despite all the troubles in their lives.

In terms of physical appearance, they differed greatly, but not to the extent of the Americas. Elizaveta was fair, had long wavy brown hair, bright green eyes and a flower in her hair. Her clothes were more… erm… less _girly_ compared to her Dark World counterpart. While Erszi, on the other hand, had long blonde hair usually in a messy ponytail. She absolutely adored the color pink, and as a result many of her clothes, usually dresses, were of that color.

In personality, well, Gillen still didn't know Elizaveta too well so she might surprise, but from what he had seen, she indeed was quite different from Erszi. If Erszi was girly, then it would seem fitting that Elizaveta was more of a tomboy, although she did act quite femininely.

Erszi was a gentle and endlessly kind soul, someone who couldn't bring herself to hurt anyone, no matter how they may have wronged her… no matter how much trouble it would bring her. Gillen honestly admired her for that, but it constantly worried him. Thank God she could at least defend herself somewhat. She was a little shy, and she sometimes spent too much time worrying about certain things. She was a motherly figure, admired and loved by her people.

Elizaveta appeared to share some of Erszi's kindness and gentleness, as seen with her friendship with Alfred. She also seemed to be able to be a motherly or at least an older sister figure, if the fact that she also raised her world's Italy was any indication. But she was brash, a lot more prone to anger, and not very patient. Erszi didn't have any of that. Another important thing to note was that Gillen had no doubt that this woman was very capable of defending herself, he could tell that she was once a warrior.

But… despite all the differences, Gillen knew one thing: these two were no doubt extraordinary women.

Gillen watched the brown-haired stare through the large glass windows of the house at the view of New York City. She was originally with her fellow Lightner, but Flavio had pulled Alfred away to speak with him privately about some matter. He figured he could ask them about it later.

"I imagine that it must be very surreal, being in a world where it's dark day and night," Gillen began speaking as he stepped up next to her. She looked at them curiously while he continued, "I know I would think the same if I found myself in a world where the sun was unbearably bright, and the sky was blue at day... I… I hope I'm not intruding."

But Elizaveta only smiled kindly at him. "Oh no, not at all. I like having someone to talk to. But you're right, this is all pretty surreal. It's something that I'll need to get used to. Honestly, how the hell can you people tell when it's night? Or does it get even darker at that time?"

Gillen had to smile at that, and he chuckled softly. Alfred had the same exact question when he first visited. "It does get even darker, ja. While the sky is already dark during the day, the sun does still provide light for us. And when sun sets, the sky tends to turn a very dark blue or pitch back, depending on where you are, and then the golden moon rises up."

Elizaveta stared at him as if he grew a second head. "The moon is gold in this world?"

"Ja, it is."

"Oh… I wasn't expecting that."

And the Gillen's worst fear occurred: they descended into slightly awkward silence. Worst yet, the two of them started staring at the other and then looking away, then stare again, until Gillen had enough of it.

"I-I… please forgive me for staring, Miss Elizaveta." Gillen apologized in, pinching his nose, ashamed of himself. "It's just that… I knew Erszi my whole life, and to see you… You have her face, but you look and act so different. It's just so strange…"

"Oh no, don't worry, I think I'm just as guilty." Elizaveta smiled sheepishly, and she gripped her head. "I just… How? I've been dealing with that jerk Prussia, for centuries. He's caused me no end of stress, and he has this disturbing obsession with invading nation's vital regions! And now there's you… You look just like him, but you're completely different! You're so… nice!"

"And you're very… brash." Gillen remarked harmlessly, and he shook his head. "No offense, of course. I think I mentioned before that Erszi was never really a fighter, and that I had to protect her for many years. But you, you're definitely a warrior. I can see it in your eyes, you've fought in a lot of battles, haven't you?"

Elizaveta nodded, and a proud grin spread across her face. "That's right. Magyar trained me in combat, and I ended up imitating him a lot. I used to get in tons of fights when I was little and, erm, thought I was a _boy_. Mongolia and the Ottoman Empire, those jerks, they loved to pick on me all the time back then. Oh, and how I can forget that little damn thief Romania who had the balls to steal Transylvania from me!"

It was then Gillen learned another thing about Elizaveta, she could look quite frightening than angry, and she somehow knew how to emanate an aura of pure rage. He sweatdropped as he watched the smile on the woman's face become strained and started shaking her fist.

"You'll see, Mr. Stinky Van Hellsing! I'll get my happy place back from you! Next time I'll get it back, next time!" Hungary cackled, much to Gillen's discomfort, before she did a 180° and smiled normally again. "So, anyway, yes, I did participate in many battles. I even though I was forced to abandon roughhousing and other boyish activities when I moved in with Austria, I ended up fighting again after many years. Someone had to protect his vital regions."

Gillen gaped, and he stared at her. "Excuse me, did you say vital regions?"

"Yes. Didn't Alfred tell you? Back then, and I guess still to the present day, my world's Prussia would always to describe invading other nations as invading their vital regions. If you ask me, I think he had-"

"I… I think I'd rather not know." Gillen smiled nervously. "Again, I'm sorry that you have to put up with my counterpart. And I can promise you that I've never had such disgusting before in my life."

They both chuckled, but it hardly did anything to ease Gillen's feelings of guilt.

"I'm sorry. I should be seeing you as Elizaveta, your own person, but I keep seeing her in you and comparing your differences." Gillen apologized again, bowing his head. Oh, wasn't he supposed to be the focused and reasonable one? "It's not right. We shouldn't be comparing each other with our counterparts. The four of us are each their own nation."

Elizaveta's smile became sad, and she nodded. "Oh, you're right. We shouldn't be comparing each other with our respective counterparts. I guess we're just so used to seeing the nations we know in a certain way it's hard not to see them in you and I. Sometimes it feels that you and Gilbert are not actually two completely different people with different histories."

"Ja, same with me." Gillen said grimly, and he pondered as to what to do to remedy this situation. Then it hit him. "So then, why don't we get to know each other better?"

"Hmm?" She looked at him, confused.

"If I learn more about you and we continue bonding with each visit, then I might be able to stop constantly be reminded of Erszi every time I'm with you." Gillen explained it carefully to her. The more he thought about it, the more he realized it could work. "And you might be able to separate me from my counterpart. What do you say?"

Elizaveta grinned. "I think it's a great idea."

/ / / / /

_(Final Fantasy VII OST: Cait Sith Theme)_

Flavio wasn't that much of a religious person, at least compared to his friend Gillen. Certain events and seeing his prayers for his brother's sanity go unanswered along with Luciano's ever-growing malice did put a damper on his belief in an all-mighty all-knowing deity that loved his creations. If there was truly a God who loved this Earth, then he wouldn't have let Flavio's brother become a monster intent on destroying this world.

But he was thankful to any deity out there who managed to help save this day. When everyone started discussing about the current situation with Luciano, along with Flavio feeling obliged to explain how _he_ let this all happen, how he failed his brother, he felt the lingering feelings of pain and guilt once again torment him.

He truly regretted how he acted with Elizaveta, Alfredo's dear friend, but Romano couldn't stand seeing the matter of his brother being treated like a joke, even though she probably didn't even mean to. She seemed like a nice girl…

…Albeit with a rather questionable fashion sense. But she still seemed like a pleasant person!

However, despite Flavio's worst fears that the day will have ended badly for everyone, everything then turned out fine and it was mostly thanks to Elizaveta herself, as well as he and Gillen scolding Allen for his misbehavior. Against the odds, everyone was happy again. Allen even sort of 'patched things up' with Miss Elizaveta.

Now only one teensy-eensy problem remained, and Flavio was determined to help resolve it: his bambino's relationship with the Light World's Hungary.

Flavio was saddened, although not very surprised, to see that his little brother acted hostile toward Miss Elizaveta. He would've lightly pulled him by the ear and reprimanded him for his rude behavior if he hadn't been so distracted by his worried thoughts of his brother. Oh, silly Flavio! Just where did he go wrong in teaching Allen proper manners and behavior? And whenever he brought it up, Allen would always snap at him.

…Which would then lead to Flavio lightly pulling his ear. Well, he supposed there's no point in trying to lecture someone as free and wild as Allen. Allen was Allen, but that didn't mean he couldn't improve!

Then again, Allen's rude behavior and bad manners could be deliberate… and even a retaliation. Flavio frowned in worry. Oh dear, he didn't really remind the boy of England, did he? He would never think of harming his little brother over anything, much less for bad manners!

Flavio should try to talk to him about it later, when the Lightners have left.

Anyway, Allen was always like that, guarded and angry toward strangers and foreigners, and he was so adorably overprotective of his counterpart Alfredo. So protective and loving, that Allen would often try to convince Alfred to leave the Light World and move in with him, to no vail. Those two were just so cute together!

And let's not forget about our dear Erszi! Allen always had a soft spot for her, and they've been friends for years! So, it's only logical Allen would be hesitant to trust her counterpart, to let his guard down around her, lest he pay the consequences.

Even now that they've sort of made up, Flavio could tell that Allen was still a little uncertain around Miss Elizaveta. Also, he could tell that she felt the same way about Allen, although she's much more willing to become real friends than Allen was.

So now… how could they help Allen start trusting Elizaveta…

Flavio gasped, and almost as if on cue, the light above him was turned on. That's it! He's such a genius!

Smiling, though making sure it doesn't look too suspicious, Flavio fabulously walked over to Alfred who was talking loudly with Elizaveta while admiring the view from the penthouse. Oh, those two looked so cute together too!

All right, play it cool...

"Alfredo, bambino…" Flavio smiled politely at the blonde-haired boy, taking his hand. "Do you mind if I speak with you for a moment in private, please? It won't take long."

The cute boy blinked, and he offered a smile at the brown-haired version of Hungary before looking back at Flavio. "Sure, dude! I don't mind."

Flavio grinned, and he pulled him all the way near the elevator, far enough where no one could their super-secret conversation.

"So, dude, Flavio, what do you wanna talk about?"

"I have a plan."

**Please review if you have a minute and let me know your thoughts about the character's conversations. I said I wanted to focus on the characters bonding and interacting, and I hope you enjoyed them. I'll include a lot more of it next chapter!**


	7. The Connection

**Thanks to HelloThereHowAreYou, Kramburg, NadiaJA627 and Redbayly for reviewing. Hey, sorry for the delay. I've been having trouble sleeping and I had to rewrite some parts of this chapter several times. Well, I hope you'll like it! Now, on with the show!**

_(Deltarune OST: School)_

"Hey, are we there yet?" Taiwan barked over to her guide, who jumped at her loud voice.

It's been… uhm… some time since she sweetly asked Canada to lead her to where America supposedly could be, and Taiwan was already getting impatient. Good Buddha, couldn't Canada walk any faster? They were in a search for her heroic chipmunk, not marching in a parade or walking the carpet! It's not like they had all day to get there, you know. Seriously, tick tock.

Taiwan wanted to least have a short but fun conversation with America before she'll have to go back to wandering the halls in boredom and loneliness since she wasn't allowed to attend the meetings… You know, since she wasn't a member of the United Nations and China was a petty shitty old fart. Yeah, it sucks. Well… at least she could always count on her friends to tell her what happened… and sneaking into the ventilation shaft to spy on the meeting.

She'd protest as she always did, but honestly, she's lucky to be allowed _inside_ the building. Maybe it'd be best if she didn't push her luck and piss off the big, stronger nations into banning her from being anywhere near the UN headquarters.

"I-I told you, it's on the highest floors, so o-of course it's gonna take a while to get to the…" Canada trailed off and paled in fear at Taiwan's awesome glare, and he chuckled nervously like the doormat he was. And he wondered why he's so forgettable…

Hey, at least Taiwan wasn't showering him with insults. He's a doormat and a two-faced sneak, alright, but she wasn't cruel. At least he's cooperating for once. Besides, Taiwan didn't want to risk insulting her only ticket to America's possible location and send him running away in tears.

And… America probably won't be happy to hear that Taiwan just made his 'sweet as honey, adorkable, and innocent' twin brother cry.

"B-But then again, we wouldn't w-wanna risk missing Alfred, eh?" Canada corrected himself with a shaky nervous smile while Taiwan never broke her glare. "S-So how about we walk a little faster? N-No, in fact, how about we sprint a little? I could sure use a bit of exercise, heh heh..."

"Yeah, sounds like a great idea." Taiwan said darkly, and her threatening tone helped make Canada walk even faster. Good.

With that, Taiwan felt that they could actually to… wherever it was where they're going in time. Hey, that's right. She didn't really ask Canada where he suspected America could be, and that darn snowflake never even bothered to tell her either! Oh, how inconsiderate of him!

Fine. She'll just ask him herself then.

"So, where are exactly are we going, Bob? Where's Alfred?" Taiwan asked bluntly as she followed her guide, distractedly glancing around at her surroundings. "And how come _you_ know about it and I don't?"

Canada squeaked, and looked back at her with an offended expression. "I told you, my name's Canada!"

"Really? You look more like a Bob to me."

"T-Taiwan, this isn't funny!"

"Whatever you say, Bob." Taiwan waved it off with a cheerful smile, and Canada sighed in dismay. Yeah, it's petty, but she intended on doing it until he acknowledged her as a nation! "So, the question? Where is Alfred, and how do you know about it?"

Canada muttered a few words under his breath in a depressed manner, something about no one remembered him (you know, the usual angst), before Maple Syrup Brain finally realized that Taiwan asked him a question. "O-Oh! Well, you know how stressed often my brother gets right? Like, really stressed?"

Taiwan immediately nodded. "Of course I do! Alfie's the world superpower, after all. And you jerks are jealous because he's doing better than all of you and he's **_not_** letting _ISIS members_ return to his country and give them gobs of money for no good reason unlike a _certain moron_…"

Canada paled, and he started sweating up a storm as he tried to horribly defend himself. "B-But ISIS is gone now, and they-"

But Taiwan didn't bother to let him finish, she smirked mischievously while crossing her arms over her chest. "And you wonder why people are embarrassed to be in the same room as you now… and why no one stood up for you when Saudi Arabia taught you a lesson."

Taiwan never thought she'd ever like Saudi Arabia before that incident.

"T-They're not in embarrassed to be around me!" Canada exclaimed in indignation, before faltering with his voice becoming quieter. "O-Okay, maybe _India_ is embarrassed to be around me after my prime minister… and the Philippines dumped a trash bag on me during the last World Meeting… but it's not _that_ bad."

"Then you clearly haven't heard what they've been saying about you at the ASEAN meetings." Taiwan couldn't help but remark with an amused smile, hiding her giggles with her long, flowing sleeve. When Canada gaped at her, she shrugged. "What? I love hearing the latest gossip."

Canada whimpered and his shoulder's slumped, while Taiwan just happily skipped along. It felt great to get back at people! "D-Do you want to know where Alfred is or are you going to keep making fun of me, eh?"

"I don't see why I can't do both." Taiwan gleefully stated, much to Canada's dismay, and she decided that that's enough shade for now. "So, Bob, let's get serious. Okay, we both know poor Alfie is under a lot of pressure, and he gets super-stressed thanks to you and the others. So, what about it?"

"W-Well, sometimes, or now that I think about it a _lot_ of times, the stress gets too much for him." Canada's tone became grim, and Taiwan frowned at this. Oh, poor America… "So, he usually runs off to the supply closet upstairs to cool off before he can snap and go on a rampage or lift the whole building and throw it into the river, eh. And then after a while, he'd come back good as new."

Taiwan stared at him in bewilderment, not really sure if Canada was joking or not. "What? The supply closet upstairs? That's where he goes to calm down? Why? There's tons of other rooms where he can have lots of peace and quiet."

Canada shrugged, looking just as puzzled as she was. "I don't know. But that's where he goes. As for how I know that, I sometimes follow him to try to comfort him and I wanted to see where he ran off to so often, and it led me to the closet. B-But wow, he literally runs off to that place, and I always have a hard time keeping up. And I'd always arrive just as he went in the closet and closes the door."

Taiwan blinked, still finding this whole story a little weird. "Oh… But… what does Alfred _do_ in there? It's not like he has a hidden console in there, right? Or am I wrong?

"I-I don't really know what he does in there, to be honest." Canada admitted earnestly, twiddling his thumbs as a concerned frown appeared on his face. "But whatever he does, he does makes sure to be super quiet about it, eh. I almost never hear any noise or Alfred's voice coming from inside… not even when I truly to talk to him."

Taiwan cocked her head to the side, and she narrowed her eyes at him. "He's probably sits there too deep in his thoughts to do anything else. And you've got _some nerve_ trying to eavesdrop on him! Don't you have _any_ respect for Alfie's privacy?"

Canada flinched at her glare and reprimand, and he tried to defend himself yet again. "I'm his brother! Can't I be worried for my twin? And don't you want to know what I _did_ hear from the closet?"

Taiwan's eye twitched. Canada was really starting to grate on her nerves right now, and she didn't know how much longer she'll be able to resist the urge to sock him across the face if he kept saying dumb stuff like this. It's weird, normally she had more patience towards other people and was more polite to them (she had to, if she wanted to gain recognition), but there was _something_ about Canada that made her want to stomp away from him.

Anyway, brother or not, if this guy actually believed he's better than his brother then he should've _respected_ America's desire to be alone. Sure, Taiwan was kinda curious as to what Canada found out, but her feelings for America came before her silly curiosity, so forget it!

"Yeah, but it's still super rude!" Taiwan insisted, before she relented and sighed. Oh, she could scold him later. "And don't try to bribe me, Maple Syrup Brain! Unlike you, I love Alfie enough to know that it's not _my_ business what he does when he wants to be _alone_. I bet it's just Alfie telling himself not to kill everyone despite how much his enemies and China deserve it or something like that."

"I-I told you, I was just worried about him!" Canada said again, growing more exasperated with each time. "I mean, I knew that maybe it wasn't very nice or respectful, but wouldn't you be worried if it sounded like your twin brother was talking to himself in the supply closet?"

Taiwan rolled her eyes. "Like I said, it's probably his unique way of cooling off and not tossing you people into the river. Don't we all do at some point? You know, mutter under our breath and say stuff to ourselves for some reason?"

"I know, but there's something off about-"

"Oh, for the love- Just get on with your story!"

"Okay, okay, fine! I started to figure that maybe he just wanted some time alone, so I decided to leave for a little while and come back to check up on him later." Canada explained cautiously so as not to piss off Taiwan again. "Sometimes I come back after about fifteen minutes to a half-hour later, mostly because I get too worried for him."

"Or maybe your curiosity got the best of you." Taiwan suggested, shooting him a disapproving look.

Canada looked like he wanted to sigh, and he gave her an exasperated look. "P-Please let me finish! And I when I try to open the door, it's either still locked with Alfred still not responding or… the door's unlocked but Alfred's not inside."

Taiwan quirked an eyebrow at this. "So? Maybe he just left while you were away."

"That's what I thought at first, eh, but then when I tried to look for him, I never manage to find him!" Canada exclaimed, distraught and worried. "And whenever I ask, no one's seen him go downstairs or anything. But even so, Alfred always manages to arrive back at the meeting room the break's over."

"I still don't see what's so scary or suspicious about all this, Bob." Taiwan said nonchalantly at Canada's dumb tale, not seeing what's the big deal. "So Alfred disappears to the supply closet or somewhere to blow off some team and calm down, so what? Maybe the reason you never seem to find him is because he makes super sure to remain hidden or something. I think he just doesn't want anyone to bother him."

Canada looked at her in shock, as if she wasn't getting the bigger picture and she was the crazy one here. "B-But… doesn't it bug you? Don't you think it's weird that Alfred would disappear without a trace like this so often?"

Taiwan merely rolled her eyes and waved her sleeve around, smirking. "You're being silly, Bob. Alfred just wants to be alone and at peace, end of story. So leave him alone already, would you? As for the whole disappearing without a trace part, that's just how good Alfred is. Besides, he's already weird, in an awesome, cute, special kind of way that makes him one of the best and most fun people you'll ever meet!

And are you even hearing yourself, Bob? How can you find this weird? Alfred can pick up a cruise ship with his own two hands, he never gains weight no matter how much he eats, he's luckily still a virgin, his roommate is literally an alien, etcetera, etcetera. But somehow him mysteriously disappearing when he's too stressed is crossing the line?"

Canada shrank, ashamed it looked like Taiwan's words had an effect on him. "It's just a gut feeling that I… Wait a minute, how do you know that Alfred's a-"

"Enough talk, Bob." Taiwan said quickly to avoid answering the question, grinning a bit too widely. He must never find out. "Less chatting, more hurrying up in leading me to where Alfred might be, please!

"D-Don't you dodge the question, Taiwan! I don't remember Alfred ever-"

"I SAID LESS CHATTING, BOB!"

"Y-Yes, ma'am!"

After that enlightening and not very helpful conversation, thanks to Taiwan's 'encouragement' they finally arrived at the supply closet just as Taiwan was considering going on ahead without Canada, and she immediately sprinted forward to the door. In her excitement and hope that she finally found America, her hand grabbed the doorknob and was about to open it, but then she stopped herself.

Wait… Wait, wait, wait… What's she doing? If America's really in there, then it'd be terribly rude of her if she just barged in. She'd be intruding, violating his privacy! Oh, but Canada said that America always had the door locked, didn't he? I'd be more polite to knock. Then should she check if the door's locked and then knock? Yeah, she should go with that.

"Maybe we should first check if the door's locked first." Canada timidly suggested

No… REALLY?!

Taiwan bit back another sarcastic remark, reminding herself that America could very well be in earshot. She didn't want to make him upset after he had such a rough day. She instead mumbled an 'yeah, ok' before _doing exactly what she was going to do anyway_.

She grabbed the doorknob and then slowly and gently turned it.

Her eyes widened briefly in surprised.

"It's not locked," Taiwan said quietly, more to herself than to Canada. Wait, if it's not locked then didn't that mean…?

"Oh, it's not?" Canada questioned as he stepped up beside her, frowning at the door. "Maple, I'm not hearing anything either. Then this probably means that Alfred's not…"

Taiwan didn't wait for him to finish that sentence. She fully turned the doorknob and opened the door, clinging onto a small feeling of hope, or maybe that's just her being stubborn as always. Once she took in the sight before her, she was immediately felt a wave of disappointment.

_(Deltarune OST: Drone)_

It was a supply closet alright, and one that _really_ needed some cleaning. Taiwan couldn't help but wrinkle her nose in disgust at the smell of dust and cleaning products. This place was a little bigger than you'd expect, it's actually about the size of a regular room of the building. Figures, since this place was huge, must be a pain to clean (especially if things got _real_ messy if you knew what she meant).

It dark in here, but Canada was decent enough to turning on the light. Taiwan saw a lot of shelves with spray bottles ranging from cleaning agents to pesticide, buckets, cans among other things, a couple of mops and brooms. And for some reason, there was a mirror at the back of the room lying against the wall, big enough to be a bathroom mirror and it's the only thing that looks clean in this stinky closet.

But no Alfred.

This whole trip ended up being for nothing.

While Taiwan's shoulders slumped and her weird long curl drooped, Canada went and looked around, as if checking if America was hiding behind one of the shelves or under one of the blankets and was waiting for the right time to surprise them. She really wished that was the case, but she doubted it was. America would've already jumped out the moment he saw his best 'dudette' was sad.

When Canada appeared to finally give up, he let out a big sigh and shook his head, looking as disappointed as Taiwan. She clenched her fists at this and gritted her teeth. What was _he_ disappointed for? That he won't be able to bother America? For all of Canada's whining that his brother was annoying, he sure seemed sad that he'd never manage to track him down.

His frowned deepened. "He's not here."

This time Taiwan didn't bother biting back a remark, "I can _clearly_ see that, Bob. I'm not blind."

Instead of squeaking like a mouse or turning red in the face in response, Canada instead kept frowning. "And Hungary's not here either. Weird… Where could they be then, eh? Maybe they left while we were still looking for them. O-Oh!"

Canada apparently hadn't noticed before that Taiwan's now in a depressed mood.

"I'm sorry that we didn't find Alfred, Taiwan." He apologized, looking so genuinely sorry that it _almost_ made Taiwan forget what a sellout he was. "I-I know how much you wanted to hang out with him, and I feel awful that I couldn't help you."

"Yeah, it stinks…" As disappointed as she was, Taiwan knew she couldn't blame Canada. She wasn't like that. For all they knew, they were never here in the first place. Still "And I know how much you wanted to violate his privacy, so, maybe it was for the best that he wasn't here."

Canada stared at her exasperatedly, and the look on his face helped make Taiwan feel a _little_ better.

"I told you, it's nothing like that." Canada repeated for the umpteenth time, but Taiwan merely rolled her eyes. "I'm just worried for my brother!"

"Yeah, I didn't buy it when China told me those exact words and I'm not buying it now."

"Hey!"

For a moment, Taiwan forgot about her failure and rotten luck in life and snorted at Canada's indignation. Then, she groaned, like really loudly, and she would've dropped the floor too if it weren't so icky. Gosh, this sucked…

"Well, thanks anyway, I guess…" Taiwan shrugged, blowing the hair out of her face before she turned around to leave the room. "At least it was fun getting back at you for making your airports display me as a part of China. I'll be going now, goodbye."

Ugh, this was so unfair. All the time she spent on searching and it all ended up for nothing! Oh, where could America be?

Looked like Taiwan will just have settle to try having a conversation with him when he came back with Hungary from wherever they went, wait until the meeting was over for the day and get his attention before anyone else did. It was her only other chance now.

She sighed and proceeded to start walking out of the room.

"You know…" Canada suddenly began, and Taiwan froze mid-exit, a little annoyed. What now? "I know this doesn't really have to do with anything, but I always wonder why that mirror's there. You know, that one over by that wall."

Taiwan quirked an eyebrow. She didn't know why Canada wanted to strike up a conversation with her, especially at the risk of her making fun of him again and continuing to call him Bob instead of his real name.

But, since she didn't really have anything better to do, and Taiwan was kind of curious to see what other stupid conspiracy theories Canada's hatched up in that empty head of his so she could tease him for it, she reluctantly turned back around and looked to where she saw the mirror.

Canada was staring up-close at that thing, and she went over there to try to get a better idea of what cuckoo idea he had in his head this time. Like Taiwan mentioned before, that big piece of glass was the only thing that looked clean in this stinky room. It's surprisingly spotless, and she could see herself and Canada perfectly.

Taiwan squinted her eyes and took a couple steps closer to the mirror when she noticed there's something on her face. Oh no… nonono was that a _pimple_ on her chin?!

"It's too small to be a possible replacement for the bathroom mirrors, and the ones you'd find in the rooms aren't that size or shape either." Canada rambled on and on while Taiwan agonized over her pimple. Darn it, there's another one on her cheek too! "And whenever I come in here, it's always clean. I-I don't think there's ever been a time when I saw it dirty or covered in cobwebs."

Ugh, Taiwan _knew_ she shouldn't have skipped putting on her pimple cream today! No one's been staring at them, right? She's really feeling self-conscious now. Oh, and she _was_ listening to what Canada's saying, but it'd be nice if he got to the _point_.

"It's almost as if Alfred's always cleaning it… Oh Maple, I'm not rambling, am I?" Well, at least he's aware of it. "I know this sounds a little dumb, and I know Alfred can be a little of a clean freak, but it's weird that he'd be constantly cleaning this. Why does he even have this here if it's not like the other mirrors in the building?"

Taiwan tried not to groan into her hands in complete exasperation. Well, she wanted to hear his paranoid ramblings, and boy, did he not disappoint. She didn't really see the point in discussing this. So what if Alfred keeps a mirror in the supply closet where he often went to chill out? Maybe he had the mirror so that he'd be able to realize that he's _not_ fat, or to remind himself that he's awesome.

It's no big deal. Why couldn't Canada realize and accept that?

When she finished obsessing over her pimple, Taiwan let out a sigh and rubbed her eyes as she took a few steps back from the mirror. Hm, at least with this silly conversation she learned one thing: She really needed to put on some cream after she returned to her hotel.

Okay Taiwan, maybe it's not as bad as you think. She should see how her face looked from this distance…

After she finished rubbing her eyes, she blinked and gazed at the mirror, but what she saw wasn't what she was expecting to see.

_(Final Fantasy VII OST: Who Are You)_

No, seriously, what the heck was this?!

The moment she looked straight at the mirror, Taiwan felt her heart stop and was left stunned by what she was seeing right now. She thought she was seeing her own reflection at first, but then she realized… since when did she have _magenta eyes and black hair?_

She felt her mouth drop in shock as she could nothing but stare at the mirror in disbelief while her own 'reflection' stared right back at her with the same expression. Really, she wasn't kidding, honest! According to _the mirror_, she now had jet black hair with flowers adorning her hair, magenta or reddish eyes, and she's wearing a bright red long qipao dress with flowing sleeves a gold dragon pattern on around her skirt and chest.

She looked pretty, like she's dressed up for a good old Chinese wedding. But this… this wasn't right, no, not at all. In fact, it's safe to say that she's really freaking out right now. Because she didn't look like _anything_ that the girl she was seeing. And _this_ wasn't normal!

Taiwan was about to either shriek or curse in Mandarin in alarm, but then she noticed something else… Canada was next to her, right?

And… he didn't suddenly speed back to his hotel, changed his clothes, go to the gym, wake up from a lousy nap, and appear next to her again all the in span of a less than a minute, did he?

Because… instead of the timid, stuttering, forgettable but frustratingly polite doormat right next to her, was a taller and ripped Canada wearing some kind of red uniform that he _definitely_ wasn't wearing today. He had longer hair tied back in a ponytail, the lower half of his face covered by a black neck gaiter and was currently glaring at her with dull violet eyes while a bloodied hockey stick rested menacingly on his shoulder.

At that startling realization, Taiwan froze up in fear and found herself unable to move or even speak, let alone tear her gaze away from what had to be a malfunctioning mirror. Her reflection, on the other hand, reacted differently.

The Taiwan-lookalike screamed, but the real Taiwan couldn't hear anything except for the sound of her own heart pounding against her chest. Her clone looked ready to bolt, but the other Canada grabbed her hair before she could get away, then he raised his hockey stick and swung it at the struggling black-haired Taiwan…

Her hands went up to her mouth in horror. H-He…

"TAIWAN!"

_(Deltarune OST: Drone)_

She jumped at the sound of Canada shouting her name, and she spun to face, hoping that her face didn't look pale. "W-What?"

"I've been trying to get your attention, but you've ignoring for the past minute! D-Don't you know it's rude…" Canada trailed off, probably noticing Taiwan's state, and he frowned at her in concern. "Are… Are you okay, Taiwan? Maple, you look live you've just seen a ghost."

"I-It's nothing." Taiwan blurted out what had to be the most blatantly obvious lie she ever said. "A-Anyway, I just remembered that I promised to attend a Bible study with Vatican City, so… gotta go. _Bye_."

Without even waiting for his reply, Taiwan bolted off like her life depended on it.

As she ran away, Taiwan tried to calm herself down before she could hyperventilate or have a nervous breakdown. Okay, _what_ was that? She saw herself… Taiwan… the girl who looked like her but also didn't look like her… psycho-looking Canada decapitated her….

That…. That couldn't have been real, could it? There's no way it was. But how could Taiwan have imagined that?

But despite how much she desperately tried to convince herself that it must've been a kind of trick, Taiwan couldn't get it out of her mind. It felt real. That so-called trick of the light _looked_ real, _too_ real.

And try as she might, she couldn't get her reflection's terrified expression out of her head.

/ / / / /

_(Deltarune OST: Thrash Machine)_

America actually had a lot of experience with Flavio's many 'fabulous' plans.

Welp, what else would ya except from the cunning guy in the trio? As cheerful, motherly and flamboyant as Flavio was, you shouldn't underestimate the dude 'cause he could be pretty sneaky and clever sometimes. Pretty stubborn too, like his counterpart. And in a trio with clashing personalities, someone _had_ to be the guy who kept the family together.

Flavio's plans had different methods and goals depending on the situation. Not all of them had to be about helping his two friends make up after they've had a rough argument, although he's pretty good at solving those kinds of matters. Nah, his plans could also involve trying to 'improve' the guys' fashion sense, make Allen have better manners, or even help sneak into New York Fashion Week's Designers' Showcase to help Erszi get her dress noticed…

…No, America didn't make that up.

While they sound crazy, things usually turn out great for their little gang… somehow. Sometimes he couldn't believe their own luck. But America always had fun being a part of it, whether he was an accomplice or a witness. Flavio liked to recruit him 'cause according to him, America's 'gets' him. It's a blast working with him, even though Allen ended up pissed off afterwards.

So, when Flavio pulled him over here to talk to him in private, America just knew that the dude had something big planned. Hopefully it's something that'll help Allen finally open up and start trusting Hungary. Flavio would definitely want Allen to improve his social skills.

And America just wanted his two buddies to get along. Sure, they don't have to be best friends like he and Allen were, but he at least wanted to stop seeing his counterpart be so stubborn and on guard with Hungary. Yeah, he knew that Allen at least stopped glaring at her, but it didn't take a genius to know that the guy's not very happy…

Not even an hour had passed since the whole thing back at the park, but America knew his bestie. Allen still felt pretty depressed after what happened, and now instead of not liking Hungary, he's not sure what to make of her.

Was that better or worse? At least Allen's calling her by name now…

To be honest, America blamed himself for this whole mess with Allen and Hungary. No, really, he's the one who kept telling his twin bestie all about what's going in the Light World… and America did mean everything. For about three-hundred years, America had dedicated gajillions of minutes and hours to telling him all about the _wonders_ of the Light World, even though he made sure to include the good stuff too!

Still, did he screw up somehow by going on and on about how fucking stressful it was to be a nation in his world so many times? About how disorganized and useless the UN was and how they barely got anything done? About the bullshit America had to put up with every day?

Did America accidentally talk about too much about the bad stuff that it resulted in Allen believing that every Lightner was a corrupt, selfish, self-centered, self-righteous jerk?

But Allen always kept him in the know about what's going in Dark World and what's happening too. It's something they did every single time they met, fill the other in on important world events and vent out their frustrations about it. Really helps with stress. And the nations here could be a _lot_ worse than the jackasses in America's world, and those creeps were in charge of their own countries!

But you don't see America insulting and being a jerk toward good Darkners like his best friend was with the Lightners… Then again, he's not cranky and pessimistic like Allen, so… Oh, was he worrying too much over this? He honestly didn't know…

So, imagine America's relief and joy when Flavio told him that he had a plan to help Allen and Hungary start opening up to each other.

"Here's what I have in mind…" A mischievous smile spread across Flavio's face as he rubbed his hands. Ooh, this was gonna be good! "From what you've told me, it seems that both Allen and Miss Elizaveta share an intense dislike for Light World Europe, in particular the countries in the Western region, wouldn't you agree?"

America nodded fervently, smiling brightly. "Totally, dude. They hate their guts."

"And… they do like often venting out their frustrations over those nations, right?" Flavio asked, his smile becoming slyer by the second.

America nodded again. He still didn't get it, but he agreed with Flavio anyways. "Yeah, but Liz hardly does it compared to Allen. And I _don't think_ Liz has two dozen dart boards with the faces of Europeans stuck to the them to throw darts or shoot at…. or has training dummies that _look_ like Europeans."

Well, uh… as far as he knew, at least. America had never really been to her house now that he thought about it, and Hungary was pretty crazy, almost _Allen_ crazy sometimes. For all the cowboy knew, Hungary's constructing a giant frying pan to drop on London or making a plan to trap Germany and his boss in one of her cool caves or something. Hey, you never know!

Sometimes America considered taking a page from Allen's book and make training dummies of his enemies and the people that annoyed him the most to help relieve all the stress and all that. But he's not totally sure if it's the right to do. It felt a little petty, honestly. Heroes didn't do that kind of stuff. And America didn't want to hate or beat up anyone just because they bother him or insult him…

Most of the time.

Flavio just laughed it off, as it wasn't worrying that Allen had all that stuff. "Si, si, I agree that Miss Elizaveta is a lot calmer compared to my bambino, but that's not the point. Let me ask you this: Wasn't bonding over your respective frustration with Europe is what brought you two together in the first place, riiight?"

America smiled fondly. "Pretty much! So, what does this have to do with the plan?"

"Because, Alfredo…" Flavio wrapped an arm around America's shoulders while the latter tried not to gag from the smell of the Italian's cologne. "We are going to help Allen and Elizaveta bond with the power their disgust towards the European Union!"

…Huh?

America slowly turned his head to face the still frozen Flavio smiling at nothing. "…Say what?"

"Don't you see, Alfredo?" Flavio beamed as if this was the most genius idea he ever had. Well, it wasn't the weirdest one… "Allen likes to complain and rant together with his friends. It's how he and those barbarians from the Middle East became friends in the first place! They bonded over their disappointment and dissatisfaction with humanity!"

After that, America felt a light bulb go off above his head, and he grinned. Ooh, now he gets it! "…And Liz and I bonded over how angry we are at the EU. Since she's going under a lot of stress right now, she's getting into a habit of unwinding and pouring out her feelings to anyone who's willing to listen!"

"Si! So therefore…"

"By casually bringing up the situation of Europe in the Light World…"

"Elizaveta will feel obliged to snark about the situation in the Light World's Europe…"

"Which Allen isn't really happy about either and knowing him he'll complain about it too…"

"They'll end up complaining about it together…"

"Agreeing that Germany's losing his brain cells, France smells worse than usual and England's going crazy…"

"…And eventually they'll see that the other isn't so bad after all!"

"IT'S GENIUS!" The two blondes shouted together before grinning at each other.

"Gosh, Flavio. I think this can actually work." America's eyes sparkled, beaming at the Italian. "I bet Allen's opinion of Liz is at least gonna get a little better if this works out the way we want it. You're a true genius, dude.

"Oh, I know." Flavio laughed haughtily, blushing. "Would you… mind telling that to Allen, please?"

/ / / / /

_(Deltarune OST: Darkness Falls)_

Talking with Gillen was… really enlightening, and very pleasant.

It was… odd, to be honest. Mostly because she was still struggling to separate him from her world's Prussia, so much that she still kept expecting Gillen to suddenly smirk like an arrogant ape, his voice to become hoarse and annoying and for her to laugh at her face. But, none of that happened of course. However, both she and Gillen were currently trying to fix all that.

Hungary found herself feeling a good sort comfort and ease that she never felt while conversing with Prussia, _her world's _Prussia. With that silly, arrogant oaf, you could always expect him to make fun of you before proclaiming himself to be a god of awesomeness or something. Or in Hungary's case, he'll just laugh at her misery and problems, before she'd promptly hit him on the head with her frying pan.

With Gillen, however, it was the complete opposite. He's patient, calm and understanding. He never once laughed or smirked mockingly when Hungary mentioned the more painful parts of her history, instead he kept a serious expression and nodded along, as well giving a few remarks about the events and a few words of comfort to her, which she appreciated.

As Gillen suggested, both of them started to elaborate on their respective histories to try to further establish themselves as separate people from their counterparts. Hungary agreed that it was a good idea, and besides, she's still burning with curiosity about the history of this world. She had so many questions that she doubted they could cover all of them in a single day.

Gillen had offered to go first, since he proposed and correctly deduced that Hungary had a lot of questions, probably a lot more than he had. Oh, he had no idea.

For example, Hungary had been curious as to how Gillen officially became a nation in this world. Oddly, it wasn't that different from how it happened to Prussia, except the humans weren't as involved as much.

"Much like my counterpart, I ended up in a troubling position during the rise of Protestantism despite the Order remaining prominent." Gillen explained with a pained look as he went over the tale of how he officially became a nation. "I encountered what one may call a crisis of faith, and as a religious man this caused me no end of headaches and inner conflict. I… think you can understand, don't you?"

Hungary nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly. The rise of Protestantism wasn't easy for the Light World either, but poor Gillen. He's a good religious man, a true Christian compared to his arrogant, cackling, narcissistic and _very_ unlikable counterpart. And to go through that crisis, oh, it must've been hard for him.

"After much debating with myself and the other knights, I had decided to establish a state where both Catholicism and Protestantism were freely practiced." Gillen smiled, now looking relieved. He probably didn't like recalling that mess. "That was when the Duchy of Prussia was born. And _that_ was a very summarized version of what had transpired, because believe me, it's actually a _lot_ more painfully complicated than that."

Hungary snorted. She could understand, really. Explaining every detail about the controversy and changes during the rise of Protestantism could be pretty tedious and boring, even she didn't remember everything about what happened.

"I'm glad things turned out alright for you in the end, Gillen." Hungary smiled sympathetically at him. "Must've been easier with you in charge instead of the humans. I don't Gilbert would pull that off, even if he wanted to."

"Ja, well, there are many advantages about being the boss, just as there are disadvantages." Gillen said as he rubbed the back of his head, sighing. "It's not like everyone liked the idea. The humans either wanted Catholicism to remain the sole religion while there were Protestants that wanted the abolition of Catholic practices. Also, they felt the need to call me names…"

"It sounds painful."

"You have no idea." Gillen cringed, sighing again. "Humans… I care for them, but they can be so hard to deal with sometimes. Things were a lot harder than how they are now."

"I don't think anyone can disagree with that." Hungary patted him on the back in comfort, smiling sadly. Then she suddenly remembered something. "Hey, can I ask you something else?"

"You're free to ask what you want, Elizaveta."

"I know we've already talked about this before, but I'm still curious." Hungary smiled sheepishly, and she hoped that he wouldn't mind the question. "You haven't ever come in danger of fading or getting your nationhood taken from you? Not even once?"

Gillen chuckled and shook his head. "Nein, not even once."

Hungary blinked. "Huh."

But then Gillen frowned, "However…"

_(Deltarune OST: Basement)_

"However? What do you mean 'however'?" Hungary asked.

"I have shared this before to Allen, Flavio, Alfred and the others," Gillen said warily as he clutched his cross again, and Hungary wondered if she should be worried. "But I want to tell you about this too. It's a strange incident that occurred back in the forties, and one that we haven't been able to solve. You see, one day I was feeling strangely melancholy, and to alleviate those feelings I visited a church..."

Say what now?

"Wait, time out." Hungary interrupted, forming the T shape with her hands. Sorry, but she needed to make sure she heard that right. "When you were feeling melancholy one day, you basically went to church to cheer yourself up?"

Gillen looked at her strangely. "Ja, I did. It's what I normally when I feel too stressed and Flavio and Allen aren't nearby. Why, is there something wrong with that?"

Hungary paled and shook her head frantically, laughing nervously. "Oh no, no, no, just wanted to be sure. I think it's sweet you like going to church, even when you don't need to. You don't hear about a lot of people doing that these days…"

If it wasn't official before, it sure was official now. She loved this alternate version of Prussia. He's everything her world's Prussia wasn't and so he's absolutely _perfect!_

Giving her one last strange look, Gillen went back to his story, "So anyway, once I was there, I did what I usually did, pray. Like I said, it often helps calm my nerves. However, suddenly out of nowhere, I…"

Gillen shuddered and held his arms, as if he felt a sudden chill. Hungary narrowed her eyes in concern at this, not liking it one bit. Just what happened to him?

"It was brief, but I'm confident that I didn't imagine it. For a few seconds, it felt like someone had grabbed my soul and ripped it out of my body. I felt that the life in my body had been suddenly stolen from me. I felt as if an important part of me had been lost."

Like the life in you was suddenly ripped away from you? What? What the hell could cause that feeling? It didn't fit the description of anything that would happen to the personification if something terrible like a massacre or the assassination happened. And she didn't remember hearing about anyone who went through a similar experience. Well, wait, she remembered…

Realization dawned on her, and her eyes widened. Wait, could it be?

"It was… No, I don't think I can properly describe what I felt there. But it was a horrible experience, I'll tell you that." Gillen grimaced, looking genuinely frightened. "However, no less than a minute later, I felt completely fine again, as if the pain was never there in the first place."

"Gillen… when exactly did this happen?" Hungary asked slowly.

"February 15th, 1947."

Hungary gasped, eyes widening. So she was right! "That's the exact date when Prussia was dissolved!"

Gillen nodded, face grim. "Exactly. Somehow, what I felt in that moment was the feeling of my counterpart losing his nationhood. I had felt the very moment he had his identity and status stripped from him. I am confident that is the case. I don't know why I felt it, but it couldn't have been a mere coincidence."

Yes, why _did_ Gillen feel Prussia losing his nationhood? If there really was some connection between them, then how come

"But that's not the only example of an odd occurrence, Elizaveta." Prussia frowned, and his expression darkened. Hungary's jaw dropped. There's more?! "Decades later, there was another incident. It happened during the tragedy in the Light World that is commonly known as _9/11_."

Hungary froze. "What _about_ 9/11?"

"For starters, look out the window over there," Gillen pointed towards the left, "I think you'll be quite surprised."

Hungary raised an eyebrow, but she did as she was told and nearly pressed her face against the window as she tried to spot what Gillen meant. It was dark, yeah, but every building was still perfectly visible thanks to the 'light' from the sun and the city. Seriously, she could clearly see the Chrysler building from here. The World Trade Center buildings too! And…

Wait a minute. What?

"The Twin Towers are still standing?" Hungary gawked. How did she not notice this before?

From the reflection in the glass, she saw Gillen nod. "Ja, as you can see from here. In this world, 9/11 never happened, nor any incident resembling it. The reason? Well, the Taliban never rose to prominence in this world, nor has any other extremist group. They are disorganized and poorly funded. And sympathy for them is low. _He_ has made sure it all remained that way …"

Hungary looked away from the window and back at Gillen, puzzled. "He?"

She couldn't help but flinch when Gillen scowled. "Saudi Arabia. A smiling man with dead eyes. A cruel man. A man that I hope you'll never get to meet. He and the rest of his family have put a lot of tireless effort to keep the threat of the terrorists extremely minimal. While the groups still exist and are active, they are few and kept on a tight leash by Saudi Arabia. Even _they_ wouldn't dare cross him."

Hungary perked up at this. You mean in this world the Middle East actually _do_ something to stop the terrorists? They're not condescending, corrupt and insane bastards? That's great! Why did Gillen look so angry then?

"Sounds like you don't like him very much." Hungary remarked with a wry smile.

Gillen's scowl deepened, and he clenched his fists. "Ja, you're right. I don't. Like I said, he's a cruel man. I know about his counterpart from Alfred, but I honestly don't know I prefer _that_ Saudi Arabia over the other one. Because this world's Saudi Arabia is dangerous. He may not like the Muslims, but he despises humanity. And trust me, he dislikes me too."

Dislike? It almost sounded like Gillen outright hated his guts. Hungary sweatdropped. But forget that, the Saudi Arabia in the Dark World didn't like the Muslims? Or humanity for that matter? No, Hungary needed more details about this man.

"But we're getting off-topic here!" Gillen snapped, rubbing his temples, and Hungary wisely decided not to ask about it. "The _point_ is, on the day on 9/11, Allen, Flavio and I were here in the penthouse. All was well. It was another ordinary day for us. But then suddenly Allen started screaming."

"Screaming?" Hungary echoed, and she frowned. "But why was he screaming if nothing happened to him?"

"That's what Flavio and I were asking ourselves. We had no idea what was happening to him. He was screaming and screaming and then started crying and cursing at the window where the World Trade Center was visible all the while we tried to restrain him. Then, he went to every mirror in the residence and began shouting Alfred's name, begging him to answer him…"

Hungary could only stare in shock as Gillen recounted the whole episode with a pained look, honestly not knowing what to say. He went on to explain how they eventually managed to snap Allen out of it, but the American still tried to contact his counterpart all day, even sitting in front of a mirror for hours. She didn't get the mirror part, but now wasn't a good time to ask that.

"So, imagine our surprise when a day later we received word from Alfred about what happened to him the other day." Gillen remarked somberly, sighing. "I don't know how, but Allen knew that something terrible had happened to Alfred. Allen himself said that he was struck with a horrible feeling that Alfred was in trouble and freaked out over it."

"I… I don't know what to say…" Hungary said quietly. "But what does this all mean?"

"I honestly have no idea."

**Yeah, I know not much happened in this chapter. It served more to introduce more of the mystery to the story and maybe set up some foreshadowing to be honest. Also, I wanted to wrap up the Taiwan plotline and it ended making up about half of the chapter. Still, I hope you found it intriguing! There'll be more bonding in the next chapter, honest. Please review if you have a minute.**


	8. Bonds

**Thanks to Kramburg, Redbayly and NadiaJA627 for reviewing. Now, on with the show!**

_(Final Fantasy VII OST: Anxious Heart)_

God, he was so _booooored_.

Allen had been so bored that yawned, not even bothering to cover his mouth, and let himself fall back on the couch. So… SO bored. Really fucking bored. Did he mention that he's bored and that it hasn't even been an hour yet since they've all arrived at the penthouse? Yeah, no, he's pretty sure he didn't mention that. Well, what'd ya expect when everyone else was off doing their own thing?

After ordering the pizza, Allen found that the others were chatting animatedly with each other, looking so damn happy or just having fun, or whatever. Gillen and the Light World Hungary, Elizaveta if he remembered right, were off having what's basically a interdimensional history lesson over there by the windows. While Alfred and Flavio were in some other room nearby… well Allen wasn't 100% percent sure what they're doing….

Except that it's probably Flavio up to no good and that he talked Alfred into helping with his damn plans again. Classic Flavio. _Dammit_ Flavio.

So Allen's been kind of been left alone, not that it was anyone's fault really. It's not like he asked to be alone or told them to wait for him so they could start chatting about usual stuff like Hollywood's descent into madness or border troubles. He was just the kid who got awkwardly left out when the rest of the class formed pairs.

Yeah, yeah, you losers were all probably asking yourselves… 'Aw, gee. That Allen sure is a goddamn moron. If he's so damn bored, why didn't he just go talk to someone instead of just moping around like a loser?' Well, _know-it-alls_, the reason was because Allen didn't want to ruin the mood by just barging in on their conversation.

Normally Allen wouldn't give a damn what anybody thought when he'd barge in, but with these guys it's a different story.

No, seriously, look at Alfred and Flavio. Allen's eyes wandered to where he saw those blonde bastards go off to, and he scowled. Even though he couldn't see them, he could _very well damn_ hear them laughing and giggling like gossipy schoolgirls. Were they even trying to hide the fact that they're in the middle of planning an evil scheme or some shit?

…Unless they really were being gossipy schoolgirls. Allen had paled and grabbed at his badass hair in panic at the thought. No. No… Flavio's not like that. He's better than that. He may like hearing about gossip and talking about the latest gossip, he's not the kind of ass who'd break the promise of never ever talking about what happened to Fifth Harmony after one of them accidentally made Argentina drop his ovenbird.

And look at Gillen and the other Hun- _Elizaveta_. Look at them as they had their damn history lesson, they looked so happy, not that Allen was surprised. Gillen cared lots for Erszi and she's the one the few people he'd loosened up with like he did with Allen and Flavio (when they _weren't_ driving him crazy). So it shouldn't be weird that he warmed up to Erszi's counterpart and quickly hit it off with her.

Allen narrowed his eyes. Almost _too_ quickly if you asked him. Yeah, he knew that he resolved to not be colossal ass to the chick, but in no way did that mean that they're friends now. This wasn't My Little Pony. And he's still not completely sold on the idea that this tomboy alternate Hungary would keep all this a secret.

Light World Eurotrash were all just a bunch of delusional, selfish backstabbers. While Alfred never told him any stories 'bout his Hungary doing something shitty, Allen knew a hell lot better than to blindly assume that that meant she was in the clear.

S-Still, she hasn't really done anything shitty since Allen met her, or anything that'd set off the alarms in his head.

Allen sighed and turned so that he wouldn't have to look at them and risk ruining the damn mood.

But, believe it or not, there's a bright side to all this. While all this left Allen with not much stuff to do, he decided that he could listen to Gillen and Elizaveta's conversation, even though he was no fan of discussions 'bout history. It'd just make him feel even more depressed and pissed off.

Curiosity's a bitch.

First of all, Allen couldn't even begin to say how fucking relieved he was that Gillen addressed the whole 'unable to see the counterpart as their own person' and whatever. It's something that Allen knew w. How, you ask? 'Cause he's seen the way Gillen smiled at Elizaveta. You know, that cute awkward little smile? It's the same one he'd give to _Erszi_.

If you asked him, one of the main reasons why Gillen's so open with the chick was because she's Erszi's counterpart. His childhood friend and ally. If it was someone else's doppelgänger, like Saudi Arabia or Denmark's, then Gillen wouldn't be that trusting. Hell, Allen doubted he'd be super happy if it was his own loud loser counterpart (who'd probably throw a hissy fit when he learned that his light-years better counterpart was still a nation).

And whoo boy, if it was Germany's uptight doormat of a counterpart instead, or Poland's crossdressing valley girl (what's up with that anyway?) one, or even Austria's… Holy shit, now _that_ would've been something. Gillen wouldn't be as open and trusting of Alfred's seal of approval if that'd been the case.

Anyway, he's happy they both saw the damn glaring problem and that they're going to try to fix that and shit. Good for them, seriously.

They started talking about Gillen's history, mostly his childhood and life with the Teutonic Knights and how he became a nation during the rise of Protestantism. Allen noticed how they both looked so chill and friendly with each other, even there's still a wee bit awkwardness underneath. Must be pretty nice to have become fast friends like that…

Back in the day when Allen was a damn mud-covered, bath-hating, hand-biting, extremely short-tempered brat who swore like there's no tomorrow (seriously, his language right now was fucking clean compared to back then) and still dealing with Papa being gone, it usually took Flavio scolding him, a swear jar, and pinching his ear every time he 'rudely' or 'unfairly' snapped at anyone to finally put some effort in being nice to strangers and foreigners.

Allen's a hella lot better now though. He didn't screw up as much anymore. But why the hell does so many people stare at him like he just blurted something only someone dumb as a bag of shit as Belarus whenever he said that? Eh, guess they need to have him as preteen to believe it.

Eventually the conversation was steered in a weird direction, and into territory Allen would kinda maybe (_really_) rather Gillen wouldn't talk about to the chick they _just_ met. Okay, yeah, they already spilled about that Italian douchebag and the other guys who were also colossal douchebags, but this was… a little personal. Not that they ever agreed to never speak of it again, but- Oh, you know what he means!

But… in the end, Allen decided that he wouldn't get up from the super comfy couch and just kept listening. God, he hoped that Flavio wouldn't catch him eavesdropping. Hell, Allen didn't know if he could handle another earful today, and the ear-pinching was never fun.

They talked about what happened to Gillen that day on February 25th, 1947. Allen narrowed his eyes.

Yeah, he definitely agreed, that was super weird and suspicious. There's no way it could've just been a fucking coincidence. I mean, you wake up one day feeling all depressed for no reason, you go to church to cheer yourself up even though it wasn't Sunday (yup, that's Gillen for ya), and suddenly while in the middle of praying ya feel like someone just sucked the damn life out of you, like they took something important, only for it to completely go away a moment later…

And then you later find out that that was the same day when your counterpart had lost his nationhood, and it looked like the whole life-sucking shit happened at the same time your counterpart lost _everything_.

Then Gillen told her about… about… 9/11, or more like what happened here to Allen on the day 9/11 happened.

Allen didn't like to admit it, but he cringed when Gillen brought that up. Yeah, yeah, nothing happened to _him_, but Alfred got hurt that day, and a lot of people died too. That enough was a good reason for Allen to feel all grim every September 11th. Allen was the United States of Goddamn America, and those people were Americans, so he had every right to mourn them too.

Oh, and when Allen said that nothing happened to him, he meant that he basically had the biggest freak-out in the history of freak-outs.

He… He couldn't really explain what got into him, actually… But it took Allen totally by surprise in the worst damn way possible. He didn't get how it was possible. There he was, just spending another day in the penthouse with Gillen and Flavio, when suddenly…

It's… a little hard to describe what he felt, but Allen will say this: Suddenly, he got filled with this horrible dread, like something really bad's about to happen… or was happening. It was pretty screw, and awful. He couldn't move. He couldn't even scream. He felt terrified. But of what? Who the hells knows? Allen had no damn idea what's happening on the other side! All he knew was… was…

Yeah… that's right… All he knew was that Alfred was in deep trouble. Alfred _needed_ him. Allen had no idea why, but it was all he could think about and he knew it was true. Allen also knew that something was happening to the World Trade Center, and he heard screaming, people were dying. Guess it all caused him to lose his mind.

After that, when Gillen and Flavio finally made him calm down, Allen was still stuck with the bad feeling for days until Alfred finally showed up, looking worse for wear. He's gonna kinda embarrassed admitting this… but Allen may or may not have and crushed him in a bear hug over how happy he was to see him. Dammit, but he was worried about him! He definitely didn't cry that day. Nope. He didn't. Don't know what you're talking about.

Alfred filled them in on what happened, and of fucking course, they were all horrified. Some jackasses from the Middle East… terrorists, Muslim extremists, hijacked a few planes and crashed them into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Thousands were killed and many more injured, and it's all thanks to Al-Qaeda… maybe some other countries.

Allen couldn't believe his ears when he heard that this was the fucking work of terrorists of all people. _Terrorists_. Those terrorists, Muslim extremists or whatever, were losers here. They had all the resources of a low-budget movie crew, or at least that's the idea Allen got. No planes, no nothing. They had little to no public sympathy too, thanks to Saudi and the other's work and clever planning and stuff.

No matter how hard they tried, they remained just that. Losers. Lunatics. Jackasses with delusions of grandeur. Jokes. Pieces of shit. You know what he meant. They could try to screw or fuck things up, but they'll always be the losers in the end. Pretty pathetic, ain't it?

'Sides, they're _terrified_ of Saudi Arabia, that's one guy you don't want to piss off. The Devil, they called him. Iblis Incarnate, among other weird-ass names. So they're also too afraid of pulling a big stunt that'll finally motivate him to stop toying with them and kill them all. Even if they all killed themselves, they still wouldn't be safe from him. No one's safe from Saudi.

Allen liked that about his fun but cruel buddy. He's a little jealous, honestly. Ohohoho, but don't you dare tell him that he said that! Allen J. Jones's wasn't jealous of anyone, ANYONE! But anyway, yeah, he liked how Saudi Arabia always managed to crush anyone who got in his way. Allen on the other hand? He couldn't try to give his enemies hell without risking a World War or something.

But he's getting super off-track here. When Allen had finally got over his shock, he felt something in his stomach. It felt like a fire, something hot and burning his insides and making his blood boil. He clenched his fists, and Allen felt like going on a bloody rampage, thrashing anything and anyone who got in his way. If you're some kind of idiot, then this was what he's trying to say: He's royally pissed off.

**Those mother&%#!#%! **Those **_goddamn sons of_** **_bitches_** think that they could mess with the United States of America and _get away with it?!_ Seriously?! They thought they could hurt Alfred?! He'll kill them. Them and anyone who ever cheered at these tragedies! He'll torture them. He'll kill them all, take everything that's dear to them and watch them cry for mercy from the very being they hate! **Crush their dreams and turn their home in a living hell!**

Allen blinked in confusion once he realized that he had a hell of a scary train of thought, and he shook his head.

Allen wanted to go over to the other world and kill them all, but he couldn't. For some strange fucking reason, Alfred can go back and forth whenever he wanted, but Allen couldn't. Trust him, he's tried and tried… but he never managed to do it.

It didn't help that Alfred told him not to worry about him, and instead make sure that this won't happen to him too. Bullshit, Allen will worry about him! Did he even look himself in the mirror when he woke up in the morning?

But… Alfred's right. Allen did need to make sure that this won't happen to his people too, they both learned from each other after all. How did Allen do this? By going to the Middle East to help with giving the terrorists hell, what else? He asked Saudi Arabia if he could join, and his buddy welcomed him aboard.

Speaking of, Allen couldn't help but scowl a little when he heard the way Gillen described the guy. Sure, Saudi's not the best person out there, and… there's also that incident that Allen's also not proud of (you know, he had a lot of past shit he wasn't that proud of). But he's a friend.

Saudi was puzzled as to why all of a sudden he was all gung-ho on seeing the bastards getting wiped from the earth and why the sudden hostility towards Muslims, but in the end he was all happy that Allen took an interest in 'the business' even though Gillen didn't really approve. But Allen could tell that the guy was trying to figure out his motives.

That guy knew something was up, no doubt about it. But Allen didn't spill, and from the looks of it, Saudi didn't figure it out either.

Allen went through pains and convinced the Middle Easterners to make super sure that the fucking Al-Qaeda (damn them to hell), Taliban, or the other groups of Muslim loony loons stayed the losers they were and didn't secretly have or will get some good weapons, planes or hidden resources that none of them knew about.

So… after a lot of investigating, raiding and an incident that Allen's not really problem where he seriously lost it when… I-In the end, everyone turned up just dandy.

But it didn't change the fact that 9/11 happened, and a lot of shit's gonna come from it.

Gah, all that all because Allen had a breakdown and somehow knew that Alfred was in deep shit. What hell did that mean? Why and how did Allen know that there was a terrorist going on in Alfred's place? Were they so super close that Allen could feel whenever something really shitty was happening to Alfred?

Ugh, it's times like this when Allen wishes that he had some kind of exposition fairy or something…

"Hey-Hey, dude!"

_(Deltarune OST: Friendship)_

Allen let out a 'gah!' as he got abruptly snapped out of his thoughts when Alfred suddenly plopped down next to him, happily wrapping an arm around him. Dammit, what did he tell him about sneaking up on him? He's lucky that Allen didn't tackle him to the ground him.

Once Allen finally got it together, he smirked at his buddy. "What's up? Ya nearly made me jump outta my skin, that's what up!

"Aw, come on, Allen. You know I didn't mean to scare ya, dude," Alfred grinned that million-dollar smile of his. Man, how did he always manage to keep his teeth so spotless with all the stuff he ate?

"Scared? Who the hell said I was scared?" Allen squawked, playing tough as he always did. He couldn't help it, you really had to look tough to survive this world. "Hell, the only thing I was scared of is that I coulda pounced on you."

"But you didn't, so it's all okay!" Alfred flashed a thumbs up, still with the same smile. "So, seriously, what's up, dude? You looked pretty serious back there and like, super in thought earlier. What'chu thinking about, buddy?

"Ah, well, it's just…" Allen stopped himself when a realization hit him, and he glared at Alfred suspiciously. Something's not right here… "Hey, weren't you with Flavio back there plotting some shitty plan behind my back again? How come you're here now? What are you planning?"

Allen knew he hit the nail on the head, 'cause after he asked those question, Alfred turned pale as a ghost, and he started laughing nervously, "Wha…? A-Aw, no, don't be silly, Allen. We're not planning anything like that!

Yeah, Allen's not buying it for a minute.

"Alfred, I'm not a moron, and you have to be the worst fucking liar I've ever seen. And you're a better actor than I am!" Allen exclaimed, and he narrowed his eyes. "Come on, spill it. I'm _not_ in the mood for his plans right now. What's Flavio up to this time? Is he gonna try to make us male models again? Is he gonna trick us into going on a wild goose chase for some shit?"

"What? No, no!" Alfred denied in alarm, and he smiled kindly. "I meant it! This is something that you'll totally like. I know you've had a rough couple of days, but that's one of the reasons why we're doing this for you, dude! You'll see. You'll be in a better mood in no time."

Allen scoffed. "I'm fine, Alfred."

"Okay, now you're the one who's lying." Alfred childishly crossed his arms and puffed his cheeks, Allen had to hold back a grin. "Come on, Allen, we're besties! We're Interdimensional dopeygangster besties! And besties don't lie to each other, right?"

Allen tried not to tense, and he had no damn choice but to give up. "Well… Dammit, fine! I'm not okay. But the last thing I need right now is one of Flavio's 'fabulous' murder mystery dinner parties. Fabulous, my ass!

"Aw, come on. Why can't you believe me that it'll be awesome?"

"Because it's a plan from Flavio."

"So? His plans are awesome!"

"Of course you'd think that…"

"Trust me, Allen. It's something great, I promise!"

"Sure, something great…" Allen muttered sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Like the time Flavio made the entire Trinity Alliance do a High School Musical play 'to bring us closer together'. Oh, you sure lucked out with that one, Al."

"Hey, you were great as Troy!" Alfred insisted as Allen groaned into his hands. Ugh, the memories. He still couldn't watch a basketball game without hearing that damn song! "A super mean, angry, bitter, cussing, zero-percent family-friendly Troy… but the crowd loved you! I saw it in the DVD footage Flavio sent me."

"Yeah, after the parents gave shitty reviews for it." Allen grumbled and he crossed his arms, bitterly looking to the side. "Jesus, that play was a disaster."

But Alfred wasn't having any of it, unfortunately. "Don't say that, dude. You always look at the stinky side of things, try to look at the bright side for a change. Sure, the parents didn't like it, but 99% of the crowd did. You guys were called 'Best High School Musical Parody Ever'. And I loved that play, doesn't that mean anything to you?"

Allen felt his face heat up, and he was more than ready to retort, but then much to Allen's horror, Alfred started doing the puppy-dog eyes and the trembling lip. Oh God, what did Allen do to deserve this? WHY?! It shouldn't be so effective 'cause Alfred looks so damn silly with that face, but it just works! Why did it always work?

"That's actually the one consolation I have from that whole shitfest," Allen grumbled as he turned away from Alfred's damn puppy god eyes. "That you liked it, it's enough to not make me strangle Flavio for putting us all through that crap."

"Buuuut…" Alfred grinned as he came into Allen's view again. Oh god, not the buuuuts. "…you had tons of fun, right? I saw you smiling during a good chunk of the play."

Allen could just feel his face burning red and tried to turn away again. "…Maybe."

Alfred was smiling smugly now once he appeared again. "And did you and your pals grow closer as a result of that awesome play?"

Allen slid down from his spot from the couch, still crossing his arms. He had no doubt he had the grumpiest look ever. "…Maybe."

"And…" Alfred's smile suddenly became mischievous as he put his hand near his ear, and Allen gulped. "…what team?"

"WILDCATS!" Allen slapped a hand over his mouth and glared at his twin who was laughing his ass off. He smacked him on the shoulder. "Hey! Don't laugh, dammit!"

"I- HAHA… I'm sorry, it's just AHAHAHAHA!" Alfred nearly fell off the couch, and Allen would've let him if he didn't love the guy so much.

"Yeah, really hilarious…" Allen rolled his eyes again, grumbling a couple a cuss words before pulling Alfred back so that he wouldn't fall to the floor. "So, why did you come over here in the first place?

Once Alfred finally stopped snickering, he smiled warmly at him. "I told ya, you looked kinda depressed back there. I couldn't stand to see ya that way, so I came over to try to try to cheer you up! And besides, I thought you'd want to spend some time with the hero."

_(Deltarune OST: Dog Check)_

Allen suddenly felt self-conscious. "Was it that obvious?

"A little," Alfred shrugged, and he inched closer. "So, what's getting you down, buddy? I knew that look on your face back there, you know the one where you look kinda grumpy but at the same time kinda depressed? You looked like you were remembering something not so cool."

Man, sometimes Allen forgot how well Alfred could read him too. Aw dammit, how he could've forgotten about that? He's supposed one of the people who actually knew and appreciated Al's smarts. Guess Allen was too busy moping to remember that… But yeah, he could use a good dose of Alfred's never-ending optimism.

"You're right, I was." Allen nodded, leaning back against the couch. "It's Gillen and your buddy over there. They keep talking about stuff about the past, and not the good kind of stuff, like what happened to Gillen when his counterpart lost his nationhood and… you know, 9/11…"

Alfred's expression darkened for a split second before he frowned, eyes flitting to Gillen and Elizaveta, "Oh… that explains it…"

"Yup."

"But I'm really glad they're getting along, dude. They've really hit it off, huh?" Alfred remarked with a proud smile as he looked at the two nations chatting. "I figured Gillen would like her from the get-go, and I bet Liz is really happy that there's a Prussia that's not annoying to her."

Allen managed a small smile. Sure, he might not be sure of the Hungary chick, but he's glad Gillen's happy… "Yeah, that's one good thing, I guess."

But Alfred knew what's up, and he crossed his arms, frowning. "Okay, dude. I know that you've apologized and that you're not gonna be a jerk to her anymore, but why are you so reluctant to give Liz a chance? I mean, I _think_ I know why, but I wanna hear it from you. I really thought that you'd like her!"

"Why?" Allen snorted. "Cause she's _Erszi's_ counterpart?

Alfred narrowed his eyes, displeased. "_No_. Because I know she's just as cool as Erszi, and I was hoping you'd see it too."

Aaannnd now Allen felt like a jerk, he winced as he felt the guilt pain him. "Look, I'm sorry. You know I'm no good with strangers… Oh, fuck that. I'm not gonna use any excuse. I know that I'm being unfair, I… realize that now. But I'm not really convinced this chick won't spill the secret about this place. I mean, what is it that's so great about her that you just had to take her to this world?"

"Maybe you'd see if you just gave her chance!" Alfred retorted, and Allen tried to stand his ground in the face of his doppelganger's upset look. "If you'd try to be friendly with her, then you can see why she's such a cool gal. And I told you before, she gets me, and I wanted her to be happy!"

"And that's why you invited a chick you're not even close friends with?" Allen raised an eyebrow, still not buying this. "Because you suddenly decided that you couldn't stand the damn damsel in distress who 'gets you' be sad? Did you want to be a hero to her?

"N-No, it's not like…" Alfred facepalmed, sighing. He took a deep, calming breath before speaking again, "Okay… before you jump to conclusions, maybe now's the perfect time to tell you the full story…"

Allen was then regaled with the full tale of why Alfred took the other Hungary with him to the Dark World, and… okay, things made a little bit more sense now. Apparently, Hungary's dealing with a lot of shit 'cause of immigration too, so they bonded when she approached Alfred when he was in a bad mood over the damn meeting. One thing led to another, and Alfred decided to bring her to the Dark World, though not before talking about something about trust and shit.

"So you gotta understand, Al. Liz is like us, she's having a hard time thanks to immigration and the EU." Alfred insisted. "We bonded over that, we found out that we have a lot more in common than we realize. You can understand that, right?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Allen admitted grudgingly.

"Seriously, dude, you should give her chance. I think you two would totally get along 'cause you two have stuff in common too."

"Alfredo's right, my bambino~" An annoying cheerful voice sang as two hands grabbed Allen's shoulders, and he felt a chill down his back. Oh crap. "As a matter of fact, it's actually part of my plan!"

Dammit.

/ / / / /

_(Deltarune OST: Friendship)_

"…And that's the story how I found out I was a boy and how my whole life changed afterwards!" Hungary finished cheerfully, looking at Gillen expectantly.

However, the moment she did, she completely failed to bite back her laughter and burst out cackling at the priceless look on Gillen's face. Oh… Oh my goodness, that's the same face Prussia had when _he_ figured out that she wasn't a boy! It's so priceless! I mean, she felt bad for laughing at his face, but it's just so… so…!

He looked like he just accidentally walked into a brothel or a strip club!

To lighten up the mood, Hungary had decided that it was her turn to talk about her life, and she figured that the best place to start would be explaining better how she spent so years thinking she was a boy and that she thought her penis would grow eventually. But then the chest pains began, Hungary started noticing the difference in strength between her and the male nations, and… puberty.

Oh, and she also told him all about the crotch cloth incident. That's… kind of when Gillen's shocked expression started to get worse, and Hungary had a feeling that she may or may not have made him have an even lower opinion of his counterpart. Well, sure, it was gross, but at least Prussia had the decency to be horrified afterwards.

"Mein Gott…" Prussia said, stunned, barely starting to calm down somewhat. "That is… certainly an… _interesting_ story."

Hungary laughed some more. Interesting's one way to put it. "Oh, yes, I was really stubborn back then, wasn't I? Really, I should've known something off the moment I realize my penis was taking a long time to grow-"

"J-Ja, but it wasn't really your fault. A-Anyway, no offense, but can we please start talking about something else?" Gillen pleaded, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow. He definitely looked uncomfortable. "I'm starting to feel a little dirty after hearing this story."

It was in this moment when Hungary felt a light bulb go off inside her head, and she slyly smirked. "Oh, don't tell me you're starting to have filthy thoughts like Prussia did!"

Gillen paled in horror, and Hungary felt cruel for teasing him. "NEIN! Perish the thought, please! In all my years, I've never felt any sort of feelings or urges for women no matter how many times Flavio has tried to set me up on a date with a woman who's 'just my type'."

Hungary's eyes sparkled at this, and she grinned eagerly. "Ooh! Does this mean you're into men? If so, then tell me all the details!

Gillen's face turned beet red, his jaw was hanging open, and he looked like he was about to faint.

Hungary giggled and decided that she teased the poor thing enough. "Oh, calm down, Gillen. I'm sorry, I was just joking around. So… I would really appreciate it if you didn't faint right now… I think Allen would kill me if you did."

Gillen suddenly inhaled sharply, and the color of his face returned to normal "Oh, good, good… Please don't do that again.

Hungary smiled at him and patted him on the back in comfort. "Alright, alright, I won't. But still, crazy right? I can't believe I thought that everyone, and I do mean everyone, grew a penis eventually. And that I that my growing breasts were just my chest muscles!"

She burst out laughing again while Gillen sweat dropped. "Ja… really strange…"

"But enough about me," Hungary decided, and she turned to Gillen curiously. "Hey… You said that Erszi knew she was a girl from the start, right?"

"H-Huh? Oh, ja, she knew that she was a girl all her life," Gillen nodded, and his cheeks began to flare up again and his tone became somber. "However, since she a bit of a habit of dressing in boy's clothes, albeit with girly colors, and looked like a boy, we all believed she was a boy no matter how many times she tried to tell us that she wasn't."

"Why didn't anyone believe her?" Hungary asked.

"Well, some of us, er, thought that she was… you know, _not right in the head_." Gillen admitted with a grimace, tapping his forehead. "Many also thought that maybe she wanted to convince us that she was a girl so that she'd have to stay out of battles, since she almost always lost… _badly _too…"

Gillen's shoulders slumped as he finished that sentence, and he mumbled a few words that Hungary didn't catch.

"Huh…" Hungary said, not sure what to say to that. "I guess that _does_ make sense. But what did _you_ think?"

Gillen blinked and stared at her unreadably. "Oh, me? Well, I thought that similar to your case, Magyar raised Erszi to believe she was a girl when she was actually a boy. But I couldn't help but think Erszi wanted to believe she was a girl so that she wouldn't have to spend her life losing battles. Imagine my guilt when I found out she was telling the truth the whole time…"

He went off into a depressed stupor after he finished speaking, so Hungary tried to comfort him again. "Hey, don't get upset. I know she must've been not very happy at seeing that you didn't believe her, but I'm sure that if she's as sweet as you all say, then she doesn't hold a grudge against you for it."

"Ja, quite right, she doesn't hold a grudge." Gillen nodded slowly, although he still appeared to feel guilty anyways. "I still wasn't able to forgive myself but she was just happy that I helped train her for all those years, despite everything."

Hungary was surprised to hear that. "Oh, you helped train her? Magyar didn't teach her?"

"Oh, he _did_ teach her, but Erszi, well, I think I mentioned before that she was never a fighter…" Gillen cringed, as if recalling a harsh memory. "So I _tried_ to help her improve, not that it did much good. But I should've noticed something was off when we were training. Her strength was inferior, and her endurance was… quite pathetic, honestly. She was a bit of a crybaby back then, and… you get what I mean."

"Yeah…" Hungary sweatdropped. Oh god, her counterpart when she was a child sounded a lot like how Italy was when Germany kept trying to train him. She must've suffered a lot under Turkey and that bloodsucker Romania.

"Ja, but I tried my best to protect her anyways." Gillen assured her, and his expression softened. "On the bright side, while Erszi herself was weak, her army wasn't, and they were very loyal to their nation."

"Ah, that's good…" Hungary smiled in relief before an important question popped in her mind. "W-Wait, so how did _you_ find out she really was a girl? How did _everyone_ find out?"

Once again, Gillen's face was red with embarrassment. "I-I, well… Like with you, the truth came out when Erszi hit puberty. It was a day when both Poland and Turkey attacked. We had no time to lose, but then I remembered that Erszi earlier said that she was going to a lake to take a quick bath."

Hungary wasn't sure whether to gape or to groan. "I _think_ I see where this is going. Let me guess, you arrived at the lake just as Poland and Turkey found her."

"J-Ja. I rushed there as soon as I could, but when I arrived, Poland and Turkey and their armies had just found her. But then there was one thing that distracted and prevented us from slaughtering each other."

"Erszi was there in the lake naked, wasn't she?" Hungary deadpanned.

"Erszi was there in the lake naked." Gillen confirmed, and he groaned, looking close to crying in shame. "She was surprised by all the ruckus, and she stood up, letting everyone _see_ for themselves that Erszi was telling the truth. Everyone was so confused and freaked out that they all retreated. Word spread out, and… things got arguably worse for Erszi for afterward."

…Oh.

Hungary stood there for a long time staring at him, blinking once in a while as she had a stunned expression. Huh, well what do you know? Her counterpart's confused gender story was even weirder than hers… and somehow even more embarrassing. This place was _weird_.

Now she knew how Gillen felt. This was so… _strange_.

She needed to change the topic _fast_. Oh, come on, Hungary. You've got to think of something before the awkwardness becomes too much for either of you to handle! Think of something, anything that'll… Wait. That's it!

"…So, Gillen, have you ever stolen Austria's happy place- I mean, taken Silesia and fought with Austria?" Hungary asked eagerly, recalling the _fun_ times she had helping Austria beat up Prussia in the war. "You know, since in my world there was this whole outrage with the humans which then led to a war with Prussia and that _oaf_ ended up getting away with Silesia…"

Prussia still loved to rub that in their faces. Oh, Hungary will make him give Austria back his happy place someday! If only her boss would listen…

"Oh, you are referring to the… War of Austrian Succession, ja? I remember Alfred telling me about it." Gillen asked, and he crossed his arms as he thought about it "There was an uproar when a woman became Archduchess. My counterpart went to war over it, and somehow other nations became involved in the skirmish. Or at least I think that's basically what happened."

Hungary nodded furiously, so he did know about it. "Yes, that is what I'm referring to! There was a law that didn't allow a woman to inherit the throne, and Prussia, the jerk, used that as an excuse to attack Austria and take his happy place! Luckily, I managed to rescue him, but I couldn't get his happy place back for him!"

She felt herself trembling in rage over her failure and the image of Prussia cackling in her mind, and she shook her fist. Ohohoho, she may not be able to give Silesia back to Austria, but for that Prussia will suffer a fate worse than death _and_ death! Prussia must _die_~

Gillen blinked, confused at why Hungary was laughing. "I'm sorry, _happy place?_"

"I meant Silesia." Hungary clarified, blushing in embarrassment after she stopped her revenge monologue.

"Oh, I see." Gillen nodded in understanding, and he stared off at the window in thought. "Roland, that's Austria's name here, and I had our many skirmishes and battles, but we never had any conflict that resembled the War of Austrian Succession. Humans do not rule here, after all. However, I did take Silesia actually, but not from Austria. I took it from _Poland_, and the humans in the region were more than happy to become Prussians."

Hungary's eyes widened in surprise. She wasn't expecting _that_ answer, but that just raised some more questions. But… Silesia was part of the Holy Roman Empire, and that's how it managed to pass on to Austria. Then again it is close to Poland, but did that meant he won it from Austria or someone else at some point? Oh, this alternate history thing's really confusing.

"Poland was the one who had Silesia?" Hungary said surprised, and she smiled wryly. "I guess I should've expected something like that, given that our worlds have different histories and all. Oh, and speaking of Poland, what's he like here? And Austria too."

She got her answer when Gillen's face darkened, and she couldn't help but take a cautious step back.

_(Deltarune OST: Quiet Autumn)_

"They are _monsters_." He hissed with his tone dripping with hate and anger, a far cry from his usual calm self. "For your sake, I pray that you'll never get to meet either of them. Those two have caused me no end of grief since we were children, especially _Poland_."

Hungary felt guilty for asking that question. "Oh… I… I'm sorry you went through so much because of them. I shouldn't…"

Gillen's expression softened somewhat at that, but it still resembled a slight scowl. "Nein, there's no need to. You were just curious, is all, and you didn't know. Now, I don't like giving them much thought. Thinking of them fills with anger and bitterness, and it is not healthy for the soul. However, if you wish to know about them, I'm more than willing to-"

"No, no!" Hungary exclaimed in alarm, waving her hands. "I wouldn't… I don't want to make you talk about something it it'll hurt you."

It looked like Gillen wanted to insist as he opened mouth, but he promptly closed it and instead he settled to stare at her. Hungary would've felt a little uncomfortable if it weren't for the strangely melancholic look on his face.

"You… you really are like her, _Erszi_, I mean. Even if you're different, you still have her kindness…" Gillen trailed off and shook his head, chuckling in what sounded like a self-deprecating way. "I-I'm sorry, I went and did it again. I compared you two when…"

"Oh, no, no, it's fine." Hungary reassured him, and she smiled at him softly. "In fact, why don't you tell me more about her?"

Gillen flinched at the request, as if he wasn't ever expectanting her to ask that. "Really? You want to know more about Erszi? I mean, I'd be more than happy to tell you about her but I thought the whole point of this was to try not to-"

"You already told me the story of how you all thought Erszi was a boy," Hungary pointed out, and she nudged him on the shoulder, winking. "Besides, I want to understand why you see her in me. I want to better understand why you think we're similar, you know."

Gillen was quiet for several seconds, but he smiled gently, and he nodded in approval. "Very well then, in that case, I'll tell you what kind of person Erszi is."

As she requested, Gillen then went on to properly explain what Erszi's like. From what Hungary understood, her counterpart was someone who could be considered one of the nicest people on the planet, or ever. It sounded like she was as sickeningly sweet and nice as Liechtenstein, albeit with a tendency to be a little distracted or oblivious at times, even a little naïve, but could be pretty perceptive sometimes.

She and Erszi looked different too. Erszi apparently had long blonde hair usually kept in a messy ponytail. And wow, she really did adore the color pink. Her room was pink, many clothes, most of which were dresses, were that color. Even her eyes were pink!

She's optimistic, a little shy… Erszi's just… really nice and kind, even though she's considered a wimp by a lot of nations. Hungary could understand why he cared about her so much. The people loved her. Gillen said she's could be a motherly figure, she even helped take care of Moldova when he ran away from his brother's house. In addition to that, Slovakia lived with her for many years and they were awfully close.

Must be nice…

While Gillen said that may not be a fighter, Erszi had a habit of carrying a stave with her whenever she went into someplace not-so-safe. No guns or knives, just a _pole_. Apparently, it's the only weapon she's decent at. Well, Hungary carried a frying with her so she's not one to judge…

Like Hungary herself, Erszi had her quirks. Gillen said had a bit of a dreamy demeanor, and that she's afraid of going near old ruins and burial grounds. She believed in ghosts and was surprisingly superstitious. Like believing stepping on a crack will break your mother's back kind of superstitious.

No wonder Alfred spoke so fondly of her. She sounded like a great person, probably a much better person Hungary ever was and will be…

"I do hope you'll be able to meet her one of these days. She's been a little busy for the past week, but I'm sure sooner or later she'll have plenty of free time to come over."

"I think I'd like that. Do you think she'll like me?"

"I'll be damned if she didn't. I'm sure she'll love you."

/ / / / /

_(Final Fantasy VII OST: Aerith's Theme)_

Oh my, what a day!

A blonde-haired woman with vibrant pink colored eyes dressed in pink pajamas brushed her long hair in front of a mirror, smiling brightly at how her day turned out despite how tired she felt. She was just happy with what managed to accomplish today.

She certainly wasn't expecting to have so many customers over at the shop today! Business really was booming. She made a lot today, and she could feel that they all left happy. Good people, all of them. She's glad that she managed to put smiles on their faces.

Things were really getting tense since the last meeting, a lot more so than usual. A lot of people are saying how a war's looking really likely, but she prayed that wasn't the case. She hoped this'd be just another close call, that it was just Italy trying to provoke him.

Oh, Italy… Why do you keep doing this? Why couldn't he let go? She always kept hoping he would, but instead it seems that he grew worse with every year or decade. Just where she did go wrong in trying to help him?

Still, she hoped that one day he'll learn.

She wondered how America's doing right now. Prussia said that he and Romano were going over to his house to try to support him, right? Oh, she wished she could've come over too. Why did she had to have so much paperwork for the week when there's a friend? It just wasn't fair.

She would've decided to be a bit of a rebel and leave anyways, but Prussia kept insisting that maybe it's best if she stayed here in Budapest.

She supposed he had a point there, but it still didn't feel right staying here while knowing that there's a friend who needed help. Prussia said that she might be able to see him soon when he came over to visit, he mentioned that Allen would be really eager to do so.

Erszi _hoped_ that she'll be able to see him again in a few days, cheer him up, maybe taste test her paprika, go visit the old church, smell the flowers, look at the stars…

She smiled fondly as she finished brushing her hair, and she put her hairbrush away before standing up and walking over to her bedroom window. Sure, it was a little late, but it couldn't hurt stay up a little while more.

She opened the windows and felt the breeze on her face as she gazed up in awe at the countless of bright and colorful stars adorning the night sky accompanied by the silver moon.

The stars sure were really pretty tonight…

Erszi's smile broadened and she leaned her head on her hand.

She wondered if Alfred's world had stars like this too. It'd be nice if one day he could come watch the stars with everyone else, even if they couldn't know about him…

Maybe it won't happen, but it's nice to dream…

**Phew, I hoped you guys like this chapter. Please review if you have a minute.**


	9. Why Can't We Be Friends?

**Thanks to HelloThereHowAreYou and NadiaJA627 for reviewing. I'm sorry for the delay... again. Hope it won't happen for a third time. Now, on with the show!**

_(Deltarune OST: Dog Check)_

Well… Allen didn't take the news as angrily as America thought he would… sort of…

It was America's idea to tell Allen the plan, or at least part of the plan, so that the chances of all this crashing and burning would be in the single digits (even though Flavio insisted his plans were fabulously flawless). Uh, that, and since Allen had a habit of catching on to what Flavio's up to, he'll definitely _might_ figure out what they're trying to do with him and Hungary and practically rage-quit.

Yeah, Allen's didn't like being the subject in Flavio's 'fabulous' plans. Wait, no, that's totally a huge understatement. Allen _hated_ being the subject of Flavio's 'fabulous' plans. Once the guy sensed that something was off and Flavio's responsible, he'd swear like a sailor and bail. If he figured out what this whole thing's about, then he'll not even bother to stick around.

Flavio wasn't too sure that telling Allen was a good idea at first, since according to the dude his plans 'always' worked even if Allen was aware of said plan or not. Not to mention that usually every attempt to make Allen socialize with someone he hardly knew didn't… end perfectly.

But after America put his own good arguments, including the super important fact that Allen's a lot less likely to kill Flavio if he already knew the super awesome plan beforehand, Flavio gave him the green light.

America knew it wasn't gonna be easy convincing Allen to go along with this and that it's totally worth it, but he's not gonna let his one of his coolest (if not _the_ coolest) besties stay with a not-so-good opinion of Hungary and vice-versa! 'Sides, there's always the puppy-dog look. The puppy-dog look always worked on Allen, always! Well, except for that time America tried to convince him that some of Disney's live-action remakes were pretty good.

If Allen won't do it for Hungary, Gillen, Flavio, or even for his own happiness and the chance to make a good friend, then America will just hope that he'll do it for _him_. For the sake of America just wanting to see his friends get along. They'd go hell and back for each other after all.

But before he'd do that, it was time for some guy time! Or even better: America time!

America didn't think it was right to help Allen try to befriend Hungary when they haven't even gotten some alone time together. Sure, there's always later, but it still didn't feel fair. And it wasn't just 'cause he knew Allen loved their talks together and always looked forward to them, America wanted to spend some time together with him too.

He really wasn't surprised to find Allen moping on a couch bitterly staring at Hungary and Gillen when all they were doing was having a good time getting to know each other, 'cause he figured Allen would still be wary of Lizzy. His buddy didn't really do a good job hiding that, or maybe he didn't bother to try.

"…You have got to be fucking kidding me."

Hey, at least he didn't yell at Flavio this time. That's an improvement.

America laughed nervously as Allen glared daggers straight at a beaming Flavio, who was way too used to his 'lil bro to be bothered by how he's obviously angry. Whoo boy… Here comes the hard part. Fingers crossed that they won't get in an 'Italian argument' this time, those were pretty nasty.

"You… _you two_… came up with this probably shitty plan that'll somehow help me and… and her finally get along?" Allen growled through gritted teeth. America noted how his fingers twitching dangerously, as if he wanted to strangle Flavio with his bare hands. "And you agreed with this, Alfred? You agreed to help with his damn cockamamie plan?! Again?! For the damn billionth time?!"

Oh boy… America smiled placidly and carefully raised his hands in a calming gesture. "Hey, hey, Al, don't call it 'cockamamie'. We haven't even told you what the plan is yet. 'Sides, you gotta admit that as cockamamie some of them really are…"

"Hey!" Flavio shouted in protest.

"Come on, let the hero speak, Flavio. Ahem, some of them actually are-"

"No! No, no, no. Forget it, Al. I'm not gonna hear any of this." Allen interrupted hotly, covering his ears. "I don't need to be fucking Sherlock Holmes to know this is gonna be a disaster."

Flavio scoffed, and he actually kinda offended. He crossed his arms, and Alfred anxiously prepared himself for another argument. "A disaster? A disaster? Why, how dare you! Didn't you say the exact same thing when I came up with the plan for the two of us plus the rest of our _favoloso_ gang escape that volcano in Russia? You know, before we all _escaped?!_"

Yeah, don't ask.

"That was, like, a dangerous situation, Flavio. This is you butting in my personal life again!" Allen furiously retorted, ignoring America.

America laughed out loud nervously, and he wanted to cringe at how _forced_ he sounded. Dammit, but he could never help himself. It's what he always did when he was caught in the middle of an argument and it looked things were gonna get nasty. He supposed he did it to reassure himself, that everything will be alright or something like that.

"Argh, I should've _known_ you'd come up with some kind of scheme to make me 'befriend' that chick! That's _just_ like you, Flavio." Allen snarled, throwing his hands up in frustration. "I can't _believe_ I didn't see it coming. Of course you wouldn't stand me not being all buddy-buddy with her even though I apologized and promised to stop acting like a jackass. "

Flavio sighed and gently put his hand on Allen's shoulder, smiling, "Bambino, I haven't forgotten that you apologized, and I know that you're trying to be better-behaved, and I'm truly proud of you for it. However, I think this is something that requires my fabulous intervention."

Allen scowled and shrugged Flavio's hand off. "Why? Couldn't you just wait until we warmed up to each other or I finally trust her enough to open up?"

"Allen, I know you. For over three-hundred years I've known you and seen your relationships with others," Flavio frowned and took Allen's hand in his, gripping it tightly. Allen avoided his brother's eyes, but it didn't stop Flavio from continuing. "And you know as well as I do that _you_ are both stubborn and protective of our home and especially Alfred enough that you'll never let go of this distrust you feel for Miss Elizaveta."

Wow, he pretty much hit the nail on the head. Allen definitely though so, 'cause clamped up and gritted his teeth. That's what America's doublegangster… no, _doppelganger_ buddy usually did when someone, especially close family like Gil and Flavio, give an argument he just couldn't counter. America thought that he looked like a snarling wolf whenever he did it.

You know, except less scary. But believe him, there's time where Allen actually pretty darn terrifying when he's growling or snarling, enough to make America feel anxious. Oh, wait, but that only happened when Allen's super-duper royally pissed off. This'll sound crazy, but sometimes America could've sworn that he even saw Allen's eyes-

"You always were a stubborn one, even since the day I met you when you were still a rebellious little boy." Flavio sighed, but it was fond way, and he even smiled a little. "Now, that isn't necessarily. But you're too stubborn for your own good sometimes, although you have learned when to quit it throughout the centuries. You've gotten better. However, you always seem to regress back to behaving like a stubborn brat whenever your dear friend is involved. Well, I guess that just shows how much you care about him."

Allen's face morphed into a scowl when Flavio called him a brat, but it just as quickly became a comically flustered expression that honestly made America laugh at his expense. Man, he almost looked as red as his hair! He really couldn't stand someone telling him he's soft, could he?

America stifled his guffaw just as Allen whipped his head to glare at him

"S-So what if I'm a stubborn ass when it comes to Alfred?!" Allen tried not to stutter as he crossed his arms and angrily looked away from the snickering Flavio and America. "Okay. Sure, sometimes I overdo it, but who's gonna keep him safe in this world and stop him from doing stuff that'll probably come back to bite him in the ass?"

"Hmm, maybe. And who's going to stop you from making rash decisions, jumping to conclusions and lashing out angrily at the smallest things?"

"I'm not _that_ bad. And that's not the point, you _Queer Eye_ reject!"

It was at this point that America felt that he needed to speak up, so he did. And he made sure to put on sad face for good measure. "Aw, come on, Red. I mean, it's awesome of you and you have no idea how much I appreciate that you're looking out for me. You're a great pal and I mean it. But come on, you gotta trust that I can make smart choices! I'm not dumb."

"I'M NOT SAYING YOU'RE DUMB, DAMMIT!" Allen barked, causing both America and Flavio to shrink. His scowl deepened, "Bullshit. You're a genius, we're _both_ geniuses. You're just too damn good for your own damn good, see? I'm looking out for you, man."

"D'aww, thanks, dude!" America grinned. Yeah, sure, he's already heard this before, but it's still heartwarming. Anyway… "But come on, Al. Can't you _try_ to give Lizzy a chance before you decide whether or not she's a totally awesome and trustworthy gal, which she _is_?"

Allen scoffed, putting his hands in the pockets of his jacket. "Course I can give the chick a chance, but I'm telling you that-"

But then Allen was suddenly cut off when Flavio loudly clapped his hands, a smile full of mischief on his face. "_Meraviglioso_! I knew you'd see reason, eventually, _bambino_. Now come, we should start preparing for the plan by practicing those breathing exercises I told you about."

Without even waiting for Allen's response, or for him to even make a move to escape, Flavio caught his wrist in a tight grip and began to happily lead him away.

"Hey, wait a damn minute, you Italian Zoolander!" Allen yelled at the top of his lungs as he could only be dragged away by a humming Flavio. "I never said I agreed to this! Seriously, Flavio, let me go!"

"Sha-la-la-la, I can't hear you~"

"Yes, you can, you dumb Italian mother-!"

Meanwhile, America could do nothing but gape at how this turned out. Huh, he kinda expected the three of them to start talking some more until they eventually reached an understanding (that's… pretty much how it usually went). This felt pretty anti-climatic in the hero's opinion. Flavio must've been getting impatient…

Well, that pizza's not gonna wait downstairs forever. Hopefully Flavio knew what he's doing.

/ / / / /

_(Deltarune OST: Friendship)_

As they conversed, Gillen had managed to get a more accurate and defined picture of Miss Elizaveta's personality. So them getting to know each other was working, that's good to know.

He had found that Elizaveta was a headstrong and tomboyish woman, evidence of her upbringing. A stark contrast to the calmer, patient and even timid Erszi, to the point that it felt a little _bizarre_ to see someone sharing the same face as her curse someone under her breath or burst into amused cackling at the flustered look on Gillen's face.

Speaking of which, she was definitely mischievous and fond of good-natured teasing, again unlike Erszi. It wasn't annoying, no. If anything, it was charming. And Gillen found himself liking the sound of her laughter. Her sense of humor even reminded Gillen of Switzerland, of how that man was when in friendly company and far from his horrific little sister.

And he was right in suspecting she had more of a short temper, not to mention more willing aggressive. Gillen saw her go into what could only be described as a sort of rage-like state in which she would freeze before forcing a terrifying shaky grin while trembling in anger, clenching her fist and proclaiming her hatred of whatever country they were talking about or how they'll one day die painfully at her hands.

It… _really_ made Gillen wonder how the hell his counterpart… His arrogant, somewhat infuriating (as well as an embarrassment to the Teutonic Order) counterpart… managed to survive incurring her wrath many times throughout history.

No, seriously, how was he still alive?!

It didn't help that at one time she pulled out her frying pan out of nowhere and clutched as if she was about to swing it to bash someone's head. Also, she had a frying pan. Oddly enough, it wasn't even the strangest choice for a weapon Gillen had ever seen.

As for how different she was from Erszi in terms of personality… well… Firstly, Elizaveta was clearly more headstrong and willing to resort to violence than Erszi, who was borderline infamous for her pacifism, dislike of violence and being a little shy with strangers. But Gillen wasn't trying to imply any of that was a bad thing. No matter how different they were, they're both lovely and friendly women…

Oh, what was he comparing them for? That went against what they were trying to do. What he was trying to say, but failing to, was that he was having fun speaking with Elizaveta.

Gillen was being honest when he tried to say that he was willing to put aside his… strong negative feelings for both Austria and Poland if Elizaveta wanted to know more about them, despite how anger often overtook him whenever either of them were brought up.

He wasn't one to hate someone with all his heart as many other nations would no matter how they may have wronged him, as he had learned centuries ago that such feelings were poisonous and caused no end of suffering to oneself. It only allowed him to suffer as his enemies wanted, as Poland, Austria and others wanted. It wasn't because of religious reasons, he truly believed it wasn't healthy.

However, this didn't stop him from feeling anger towards those who hurt him or his loved ones in the past. Anger was different from hate, yes, but it could blind you and corrupt you just as hatred could. To Gillen, however, anger was easier to control and suppress than hate. It still wasn't easy.

And when it came to those two, as well some other unsavory individuals who all really tested Gillen's patience and got on his nerves, anger will always flare up within him. Anger for their past transgressions, for tormenting him throughout the years, for the fact that evil and heartless people like them continue to exist and stay strong no matter what happened to them-!

No. Gillen inhaled sharply then slowly released the air through his mouth to calm himself. He won't give in to anger. It's exactly why he wanted to avoid speaking of them in the first place.

Well… at least she didn't inquire about his _brother_. He wasn't sure if he'd be willing to discuss him, although Elizaveta would probably convince him it's alright if they don't.

Honestly, he was a little surprised she didn't ask anything that involved Germany. Gillen thought she'd be curious to know a little more about him, as well as the _other_ two Axis members, after what little she information she had been given about them back at the park.

Perhaps she figured out that it was a touchy subject, considering that they implied that Germany was not one of the good ones, and thus decided not to ask? It's also likely that maybe she didn't want to go into a dark and tense subject again, which was understandable.

And the situation regarding Gillen's relationship with his brother was… certainly a dark and tense subject, as well as complicated.

He shouldn't dwell on it. There's no point in doing it. If he really wanted to think about his enemies and complex relationships with certain nations that'll no doubt end up souring his mood, then he could do it another time.

So, he should stop thinking about his negative emotions regarding his enemies and instead pay attention to Miss Elizaveta's story about how God told her to hit France with her frying pan for no apparent reason.

…No, that wasn't another of his 'lame' attempts at a joke.

Gillen listened, albeit reluctantly, with a skeptical but increasingly baffled expression as Hungary nonchalantly talked about how she received a message from God, a suspiciously indifferent and not very benevolent God, to 'deliver his wrath upon France with Hungary's skillet'. Why? No reason. Apparently, Hungary also didn't think to ask _why_.

In fact, from what Gillen gathered, there's even a chance that the entity that visited her wasn't God.

"…But even though it was an order from God himself, I still couldn't really bring myself to do it." Hungary was telling him with a sad smile. "Oh, I know how foolish and silly that sounds, disobeying an order from God. Why, I'd never hear the end of it from the religious nuts if they found out. But I had to wonder, just what sin did France commit to earn a good pummeling?"

Gillen mumbled something incomprehensible under his breath as a response, not really thinking clearly at the moment. It's rude, yes, but he's too busy trying to make sense of this nonsensical story, no offense to Hungary. It's so mindboggling baffling and random that Gillen lost count of the number of questions he had about the validity of this 'God'.

No, no, Gillen wouldn't say that it was foolish or silly to disobey an order from that 'God', considering that the God Hungary had described sounded nothing like the kind, benevolent, forgiving deity that he had followed and prayed to all his life. He was a little tempted to ask if Hungary had eaten something that night that caused strange dreams, but with all the new questions popping in his head, Gillen couldn't even open his mouth.

"…Yes, yes, I realize now that that might have been a bit of a dumb question since it _is_ France after all. But still, I had to wonder what he did among all the things he did that pissed off God enough to send me a message to deliver some divine retribution via my frying pan."

That's actually one of the many questions Gillen about this whole incident. While he was aware that the France from the Light World was infamous for being a pervert and having an irrational fear of computers, and Gillen knew quite a lot about his history from what Alfred told him, he really had to wonder what France did to earn the wrath of God.

"…So I was tailing France, still indecisive and worried over my dilemma. For a moment I thought that I was never going to be able to do it, but then it happened. I saw France spying on Austria playing his piano, so naturally I got suspicious…"

Oh dear.

"You wouldn't believe how pissed off I was to find out he was leering at him and saying how he wanted to make Austria French territory."

Oh Lord.

"So, after a lot of pondering and indecisive, I raised my frying and…!

"Gillen!"

Blinking in surprise, Gillen barely turned his head when _Flavio_ laughed merrily and wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug, much to the Prussian's discomfort. Curses, what he did tell Flavio about hugging him…?

"F-Flavio?"

"Si, it's me! And I have something very important to talk to you about." Flavio winked in a not-at-all suspicious way before smiling sweetly at Hungary. "Bella, you don't mind if I borrow Gil for a moment, do you?"

Hungary certainly looked like she'd mind from the way she puffed her cheeks in annoyance. "Ngh… Well, if it won't take long…"

"Grazie. Come on, Gillen!" Flavio insisted, but without even waiting for Gillen to ask what he's up to, his friend started dragging him away. "It's really important, you know. And I need some backup to calm Allen down."

"Just what are you talking about, Flavio? What did you do?"

"I'm talking about the plan, of course."

"What plan?"

"_This_ plan…"

When he found out just _what_ Flavio had in mind, even with his friend's track record, Gillen wondered if this will end up well.

/ / / / /

_(Deltarune OST: Scarlet Forest)_

Hungary wondered if Flavio and Allen were always this… dysfunctional.

She felt one of her eyebrows twitch as she stared exasperatedly at Allen who was having an intense and loud whispering argument with Flavio (and to a lesser extent, America and Gillen, both of whom who was trying to break them up). Yes, you heard her right. Even though they were 'whispering', or maybe trying to, Hungary could _clearly_ hear them.

To their credit, while Hungary could hear them, she couldn't really _understand_ what they were saying. Partly because it sounded like they kept constantly switching from arguing in English to arguing in Italian… or was it Latin? Oh, she didn't know. Like she said, she couldn't understand what they're saying. Most of it sounded like hissing than saying actual words.

However, she did catch some snippets, but since she had absolutely no context, she had no idea what it's supposed to mean. Honestly, some of what she understood, or thought she understood sounded borderline nonsensical. Like: _'Oh, I wish I was your mother, young man!', 'This is why I said Gil was my favorite when I was a kid!', 'Mamma mia! _and _'Gah, I hope your marinara sauce **never** clings to your damn pasta after this!'_

…which was then promptly followed by America and Gillen gasping in horror as if Allen insulted the Italian in the worst way possible and Flavio gaping then angrily crying out _'Sono tua favoloso fratello, come osi!' _before smacking Allen on the head.

Okay, that got a brief chuckle out of her.

She seriously had no idea what those two were arguing about, and Hungary wasn't sure whether to be worried or to dismiss this as normal, since small arguments seem to be really common in the group, but Hungary couldn't help but feel that maybe she had something to do with it.

Why did she think this? Well, she couldn't think of any other reason why the three of them would keep throwing glances at her or why America constantly send her nervous smiles and thumbs-up as to tell her there's absolutely nothing to worry about.

Well, it ended up doing the opposite of what America probably intended. Hungary's starting to feel a wee bit concerned…

Gillen wasn't helping either. He kept constantly groaning, putting his hand to his face and trying but failing to intervene Allen and Flavio's argument. And whenever he wasn't trying to calm them down, he kept giving her apologetic looks or throwing his hands up in frustration. Poor Gillen.

Honestly, Hungary was completely out of the loop. Just what on earth was going on?

She was just having a nice talk with Gillen (everything Prussia wished he could be and more), you know, happily then sheepishly telling him about the time God visited her in the middle of the night to give her the task of hitting France with her frying pan for some reason while Gillen stared at her as if she suddenly grew a second head.

You know, that's actually how most people react to the story…

…When Flavio suddenly waltzed up to them and interrupted Hungary just as she was about to get to the part where she finally decided to pummel France in the name of God when she found him ogling Austria! Oh, shoot, what bad timing! That was the best part of the tale.

He sent her a pretty suspicious smile and stated that he's going to borrow to Gillen for a minute before hauling said nation away, much to Hungary's bafflement. A few minutes of plenty of suspicious whispering and Gillen facepalming later, they come back, with the Italian wearing an excited smile and the other giving Hungary an apologetic look before telling her to go wait in the dining room's because the pizza's here.

Of course, Hungary wasn't an idiot, so she tried to ask them what's going on, but Flavio (of course) cut her off mid-sentence and practically towed her away to the dining room. Goodness, who would've guessed Flavio had a good grip?

And now here she was, watching this borderline hilarious bilingual argument, still wondering what the hell Flavio's up to.

Eventually it seemed that those two finally resolved their argument (thank god) after Alfred intervened with what appeared to be some choice words and the puppy dog eyes look that immediately brought Allen to his knees. Even though Hungary's out of the loop, it still made her snicker.

"Well, I'm glad you finally saw reason my bambino," Flavio said loudly as he happily patted the _far_ from overjoyed Allen on the head. "I knew you would. And I accept your apology,

In response to that, Allen's scowl deepened, and he opened his mouth, but America wisely decided to clamp his hand over his counterpart's mouth. "Y-Yeah, Allen's _totally_ sorry for what he said… _right?_"

Allen grumbled under his breath, but Hungary did manage to hear a, "Yeah, whatever."

"Ja, thank Gott you two finally finished arguing," Gillen sighed in relief, as well as exasperation, and looked at Flavio tiredly. "Now can we please move on before one of you snaps at the other again?"

"Si, of course!" Flavio grinned and he grabbed Gillen and America by the wrists. "Now then, if you would excuse us, Gillen, Alfred and I will go pick up the pizza. We'll be back in a jiffy as the humans here say!"

As he started to pull the two noticeably reluctantly and apologetic nations away, the realization finally hit Hungary. Oh no… She glanced at Allen, who was grumpily glaring at the departing nations, and briefly their eyes met. Suddenly Allen's anger made sense.

"Wait, why do you need to take Allen and Gillen with you?" Hungary quickly asked as the three were leaving.

"Because… um…" Flavio stopped, confusion in his features, and he glanced at America. "Alfred, why do you and Gillen need to come with me?"

Hungary's jaw dropped while she heard Allen facepalm. He didn't even know?!

America laughed nervously. "Because… We wanna check if Old Murray's still alive, duh! We wouldn't want the pizza guy or gal to call the hospital on him, drawn attention to the apartment building and make it harder for us to leave, right? Haha… So that's why if Murray's dead, we gotta haul him away before someone notices!"

…Huh, that's actually a decent point.

"Si, that's exactly it!" Flavio nodded with a big smile, ignoring Gillen's groaning and Allen crying out 'bullshit!', and went back to dragging the two nations with him. "So you have to understand, the three of us need to go. We won't be long~"

Before Hungary could even stop them, they left. With America flashing her one more thumbs-up and a blinding grin while Gillen sending her one more silent apology before they left the room, closing the door behind them.

So… they're now alone… just the two of them alone…

_(Final Fantasy VII: Anxious Heart)_

While Hungary could only stand there trying to process the fact that maybe this was all part of some plot, she saw that Allen was still glaring in the direction where the others have left, brimming with frustration.

Then, as soon as Hungary let out a defeated sigh, the punkish American suddenly turned to face her. She expected him to glare at her, but instead Allen just wordlessly stared at her with a conflicted expression. That's when she realized that he was shaking a little, and the redhead started gritting his teeth along with cursing under his breath.

It only got weirder from there. Allen would then somehow go from gritting his teeth to scowling to frowning in annoyance to… a look of helplessness? But it vanished as quickly as it appeared, and just when it seemed like he was going to settle with a flat expression, he went back to a scowl. It got to the point where it was a little creepy, or at least odd.

It's almost as if he's trying to decide which emotion and facial expression wouldn't earn him a reprimand from Flavio. That, or maybe he was trying to calm down his anger and resentment so that he could properly talk to Hungary without coming off as a jackass again.

Could it be he really was trying? It almost seemed too much to hope for, seeing as he's been a stubborn person so far. But perhaps he'd do it for America's sake... hopefully.

But when this kept going on for over two or three minutes, Hungary decided that she wasn't going to wait anymore.

"So, are you going to say something or are you going to just stand there while trying to decide how you're going to glare at me?" Hungary asked in a nice enough way, complete with an impatient smile.

With that, Allen's face finally settled into a look of irritation. "You mockin' me, lady?"

Now it was Hungary's turn to give an irritated look. "Oh, of course not. Where on earth did you get that idea?"

"Don't play dumb." Allen's irritated expression morphed into his usual scowl. "From what I've seen, you think you're quite jokester. Sides, I bet you'd love a chance to mock me after how I treated you at the park."

Hungary had to resist the urge to make a snarky retort, it'll only make things worse. But honestly, was Allen usually this paranoid? Oh, she should just try to calm him down before he could get angrier.

She's definitely going to make America promise never to leave her alone with Allen again.

"Don't be silly, Allen. It has nothing to do with that. It's just too awkward and uncomfortable watching you go from one scowl to another, don't you think?" Hungary said in the calmest tone she could muster, but she ended up sounding exasperated. It also seems like you're trying to decide just how much you don't like me and how you want to express it."

"Hey, don't go off jumping to conclusions, dammit! I'm not as much as open book as you think, you know!" Allen snarled, as if Hungary had insulted him. "First of all, I'm just pissed off at Flavio for taking Gil and Al and leaving us here alone. Second, it's not that I don't like you, it's just that I don't wanna be here alone with you."

This time Hungary couldn't help but give him a deadpan look, "If you don't dislike me, then why is being alone with me such a problem?"

"Because... I..." Allen faltered, and for a moment Hungary could've sworn his scowl became a guilty frown before finally getting his act together. "Shit. Because it's you, obviously. I can't talk to you. And I definitely don't wanna be in awkward silence with ya either!"

"What do you mean 'you can't talk to me'?" Hungary demanded, feeling herself running out of patience for the redhead. We are talking to each other, and it doesn't look like you're having any trouble doing it!"

"That's cause we're fucking arguing, I'm great at that! I could do it all damn day!" Allen yelled in response and then he smirked proudly. "I once debated against Stephanie Fucking Meyer over how crappy her work is until she collapsed from dehydration. The audience were in fucking stitches. They thought the broad fainted!"

Hungary stared at him in surprise. "You debated against the author of Twilight?"

"Yeah, good times." Allen snickered, but then his scowl returned when he noticed the look on Hungary's face. "What? Just cause I'm a punk, tough, badasss, swear like a sailor and love beating the crap outta people, I can't appreciate good literature and want to give authors who give vampires a bad red a piece of my mind? Why, I oughta-

"Oh, for the love of- We're already arguing, Allen. Let's not make things harder for us both." Hungary cut him off exasperatedly before realization dawned on her. She blinked, "Wait a minute, why _are_ we arguing, anyway? No, you know what? I'm not going to beat around the bush, anymore. What is your problem with me?"

Instead of getting angrier like Hungary expected since he practically had a shorter temper than Romano, she was surprised when all the anger vanished from Allen's face… before giving her a cold stare. Hungary frowned. It wasn't enough to make her flinch, but it still looked… off.

"Finally addressing the elephant in the room, huh? I'll give you props for that, lady." Allen remarked coldly, and Hungary was surprised to see him frown. "You wanna know why I acted like suc a jerk? Why I can't stand any of you Lightners? Well, I'll tell you. But first let me make something clear: My opinion of you has gone up… a _little_ bit since the park. The main reason why I'm being so cranky right now is because of _Flavio_."

Hungary wanted to ask him why he and Flavio were arguing, but she quickly realized that maybe she shouldn't make him angry again. "Your opinion of me has gone up? Really? How come? Did Alfred finally get through to you?"

"Sort of. I'm still gonna keep a good eye on you though, _and don't you forget it._"

Hungary rolled her eyes, but she felt a small smile on her face. "Yeah, you made that quite clear. So, what did he tell you?

"Al had just told me why he decided to bring you over here, about the whole wanting to escape the shitty life of a nation for a day." Allen replied flatly, and Hungary's eyes widened. He looked away to the side with a bitter expression. "He told me that you also had some beef against the European Union. Nice to see someone else's seen through their bullshit. I can respect you for that."

Hungary blinked "Well, I'm glad you understand.

"Yeah, yeah…" Allen waved it off with a grumpy face. "And he also mentioned how you helped cheer him up and how he helped cheer up and whatever. Oh, and something about chasing after a koala and a sheep?"

Hungary grinned at the mention of that fun little idea. "Oh yeah! That was a lot of fun."

"Yep. So as someone who has to deal with not being able to be there for Al the time, I wanna say…" He grimaced Then to Hungary's surprise, he bowed his head in gratitude "Thanks for helping him. You really got no idea how rough his life is, dealing with you damn Lighters and humans…"

Needless to say, Hungary was taken aback by Allen's words. She wondered if she was seeing and hearings things, because it almost seemed unreal for the apparently ever-cranky Allen to say thank you, and hardly in a begrudging way too.

She rubbed her eyes and looked at him again. Yep, she wasn't imagining it.

Huh… maybe she was being a bit too harsh on him in her mind. Hungary supposed he and America wouldn't be such good friends if the redhead of the two was so cranky and

"…But you better not have some kind of ulterior motive or anything, dammit." Allen growled, his eyes almost _glowing_ red. "Sure, neither of us sense something's off. But the moment I see that you're fucking using him, don't expect any mercy from me. I don't care if you're a lady. As a firm believer in gender equality, I'll gladly beat the crap out of you in the same way I did with Japan."

…Well, it was nice while it lasted. At least he had some measure of respect for her…

"So, after everything Al told me, I could… sort of… get why he likes you enough to take you to this crazy world." Allen hesitantly admitted, rubbing the back of his beck. "I ain't trusting you yet, but I understand now. I still don't like it, but again, I understand now."

Hungary smiled warmly. "Thank you, Allen."

The redhead sneered. "Yeah, don't get used to it."

"Who would've thought that most of this drama would've been avoided if you've known the full story from the beginning." Hungary smiled wryly. "I think Alfred would've told you back at the park, but what with the whole situation with this world's Italy…"

Allen's face scrunched up in distaste. "Nah, I think I would've been a bit of a jerkass. I would've still needed that stern talking-to form Gil and Flavio."

"Who knows? But anyway, I'd like some answers to my questions." Hungary frowned at him. "Why do you still have it out for me? And again, what's your deal with the Lightners? You're acting as if they've done something horrible to you."

That last sentence caused Allen to chuckle darkly.

"Tch, now that's a dumbass question." Allen snorted, bitterness in his voice. "You should _know_ why I can't stand you Lightners. And done something horrible to me? Don't make me laugh. I don't need to have been screwed over by those guys to know what bastards and losers they are. And besides, you know what shit the nations and humans put Alfred though."

Hungary bit her lip. Whether she liked it or not, Allen had a point. She knew why he'd hate them, but… "You're right. I know why you wouldn't like us very much. I'd understand if you were annoyed or disappointed, but you _hate_ the countries of my world."

Allen nodded, scowling. "Pretty much."

"Why do you hate them so much? I doubt America always talked about us in a bad way." Hungary could understand him complaining from time to time, but he wouldn't deliberately make them all look bad. "And how come you're badmouthing us? Didn't you and the others say that this world had a lot of nations that were either crazy or cruel? How come _we're_ the losers?"

After asking that last question, Hungary flinched when Allen snapped his head at her, expression filled with rage. He growled at her, and his furious red eyes almost seemed to glow in his anger. For the first time, Hungary actually felt unnerved by his glare.

But then he stopped growling, and he settled for a cold dead stare, like the one he gave her before.

"Lady, before I answer that, tell me something. How much did Alfred tell you about his relationship with me and the other Darkners?" Allen asked suddenly in an eerie tone. "How much did he tell you about the connection between this world and yours?"

Hungary raised an eyebrow. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Because, Lady, I've _seen_ your world. Like they say, you gotta see it to believe it."

"W-What do you mean?"

"Oh, I mean I've been _watching_ you bastards," Allen said darkly, speaking with no trace. "For over three-hundred years, I've been watching you Lightners go about making fools of yourselves and letting the humans… those _damn_ bugs… boss you around. I've _seen_ most of your world meetings. I've seen it all through the mirror, the only window I have to your world."

**Yeah... another cliffhanger. Man, it's becoming a bad habit. Please review if you have a minute.**


	10. Progress

**Thanks to Queendom of Crows, FGO, NadiaJA627 and a gues for reviewing. Now, on with the show!**

_(Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver OST: Ruins of Alph)_

He sat cross-legged in the darkest parts of the ruins, the area with the largest traces of his power, where he could meditate and pray in peace with the highest chances of success. It was pitch-black, but he had his companion light up a torch to solve that problem. As much as he loved the dark and all its horrors, he needed lighting to know where he was and to pray.

It was a fun habit of his to visit this cursed place every now and then to get away from the infestation of lower life forms, as well as for other reasons. This was also the place where he was most likely to receive premonitions. And lately with everything that's been happening with that arrogant Italian since the last World Meeting, he'd like to see what's in store for all of them in the future.

The possibilities the demon would speak of were of a possible and preventable future after all, so that would make things easier or harder for him depending on the situation. Right now, it would probably (hopefully) be the former.

More importantly, if he received a bad omen or premonition, he'd like to use this information to help America as much as he could to prevent that future from occurring. Or at least, prevent him suffering harm or war.

He cared for that boy, and it always made him happy to see that he felt same toward him despite what his allies thought. He had a lot of potential. America must not perish.

He kept muttering words of an inverted version of his country's language until he finally came in contact with the entity he'd been meaning to speak to. Once he did, he froze and made sure to give his full attention.

He remained there, sitting still while they had their conversation, almost resembling a statue.

When it was over, he opened his eyes. After a few moments of silence, he chuckled to himself.

"So, I wasn't seeing things after all. I should've figured…" He smiled dryly. "I'd inform the Alliance of this, but I'm still not very certain of my own theories. I need to investigate further, although I'll have to do it without alerting the enemy that I'm possibly aware of their presence. I'm sure Italy already suspects I know more than I let on."

Granted, it would be much easier of the entity would just tell him instead of just dropping cryptic sentences, riddles and clues, many people had pointed it out to him to annoying degrees.

But he didn't feel any sort displeasure or annoyance at this. He should be grateful that the demon was considerate and generous enough to warn him of this. To ask more would be disrespectful, insulting. And he respected the entity far too much to even think of doing that.

So, he smiled and decided he should get straight to work later.

If he was right about one of his theories, then to stop this invisible threat, he'd see his lifelong dream come true after all. The very thought of him made him grin. His plan, which had long been put on hold due to reasons, might finally come to fruition. Ah, but he shouldn't get too excited. He could be wrong, for all he knew. Still, it was nice to know that it's a large possibility and that there's still a chance.

Well, it's time to return to his mundane city.

"Come, I think it's time we take our leave." He said nonchalantly as he shifted to his feet, wiping the dust off his clothes before his eyes trailed to his brother coolly. "I'd honestly prefer to stay, but we cannot shirk our responsibilities. So, stop pretending that you're a cheap mannequin and get moving, will you?"

"As you command, brother."

/ / / / /

_(Pokémon Diamond and Pearl OST – Jubilife City (Day))_

Cuba, AKA Maximo or _El Máximo_ as he loved to call himself sometimes, was currently choking on the smoke from his cigar in yet another attempt to smoke.

Coughing and hacking for dear sweet air and desperately trying to get the damn smoke out of his system, Cuba was leaning on a wall for support as his buddy Argentina, being the cool guy he was, bothered to put his ovenbird plushie in one of his pockets to pat the Caribbean's back.

It's an… ugh… painfully well-known fact that Cuba couldn't smoke, no matter how many times he tried or what stuff he used. Could you believe it? The personification of the nation known for tobacco, Cuban cigars and stuff allergic to every smokable substance imaginable? It's embarrassing, he tells you. Really embarrassing! He's practically the laughingstock of the Caribbean any time it's brought up.

Thankfully, the title of _Ultimate Laughingstock of the Caribbean_ still belonged to that jerk Jamaica thanks to… uh… well… you had to _meet_ him to see why it's a little hard to take that creepy guy seriously. Didn't make him any less dangerous though…

But anyway, where was he? Oh yeah, he's in dire need of air.

Cuba kept coughing and wheezing as he felt the last of the damn smoke finally leave him, finally allowing him to breathe properly and, y'know', _not die_. Thank goodness, it felt like it took forever. He decided that there wasn't any danger of him fainting he stopped using the wall for the support even as he kept

Oh god… that was horrible. It's just as painful and gross as every other time he tried smoking.

"_Dios mio_, you never learn." Argentina's raspy voice admonished.

A vein bulged in Cuba's head, and he glared weakly at his friend. "Well you can't blame a guy for trying! I was so… 'hack!' sure that I wouldn't get an allergic reaction or choke this time."

"Except this has been, correct me if I'm wrong, the _3456th_ time you've attempted to smoke and failed to do so." Argentina reminded him gently, and he shook his head. "Most people would've called it quits by now, especially people with our long lifespans. I don't approve of this stubbornness of yours. It worries me."

Cuba huffed in response and straightened his jacket, a heartfelt birthday gift from the boss. "Hey, the boss thinks my stubbornness is amazing!"

Argentina tilted his head slightly, confusion in his visible eye. "Really? I… I apologize for bursting your bubble, amigo. But I clearly remember that he said that it's _amazing_ how ridiculously stubborn a smart guy like you can be... no offense."

Cuba beamed in pride. "But he said I'm smart, and that's what matters."

"Ay… Honestly, Max, how many times are you going to put yourself through this?" Argentina said exasperatedly. "It doesn't matter if you try marijuana, tobacco, or whatever other substance there is. You're allergic to smoking. Why can't you accept that?

"Because it can't be possible for a nation to be allergic to something. There's got to be something I'm doing wrong!" Cuba insisted stubbornly, hitting his head against the wall. "I'm the proud representation of the great Cuba! My island's filled with this stuff and my people even made _Cuban_ cigars! How is it possible for me to be allergic?"

Argentina thought about for a moment before shrugging. "Perhaps some things just aren't meant to be."

Cuba groaned loudly and slowly deflated to the ground before Argentina grabbed his wrist and forcefully hoisted him up. Man, for such a scrawny guy, Argentina's got a good grip. He weakly glared at his friend who took out his ovenbird and was too busy cuddling it to notice Cuba's totally righteous anger.

"I'm sorry, Max, but we're only wasting our time here." Argentina told him in the nicest way possible… but Cuba still felt like crap and his throat tasted like- "I think now's the time to tell you why I called you here. Believe me, it's important."

Grudgingly and knowing that this was serious, Cuba stopped glaring at Argentina and payed attention.

Well, it's about time! Oh, you want to know what's happening why Cuba's here? Then he'll tell you. Listen to this…

Yesterday he was at his house fretting and worrying over America, y'know, the boss? Yeah, Cuba was there, worried about his longtime friend because it didn't take a genius to know that the boss was stressed out from what happened at the last World Meeting. Being the loyal henchman, friend, ally and, neighbor Cuba was, he wanted to go over to America's house and help him through the stress even though he'll probably get beaten up for it…

Oh, boss. He's way too obsessed with maintaining the whole tough guy image, Cuba chuckled fondly before promptly returning to his grumpy stupor. But unfortunately, Prussia told him that the boss wasn't ready to see him or anyone yet. America barely allowed him and Romano to visit him, he said.

Cuba would've protested, but dammit, he had a lot of respect for that European. He's one of the few good ones in his area and he understood the boss even better than his own henchman did! So, begrudgingly, he backed down.

And then, well… Naturally, Cuba decided to wait for the boss to feel better enough to have him over for a visit.

Man, he thought that he was gonna spend the next week or so chewing on his fingernails or trying to smoke without choking or getting a runny nose, but he was _wrong_. Argentina, another good friend one of his, gave him a call. Said that they needed to talk, in person. It was important, he said.

Apparently, Argentina wanted to call the boss at first to help him investigate something, but since he didn't want to interrupt him while the boss was trying to figure out a plan… he decided to go to Cuba instead. And Cuba, since he's an awesome friend, agreed to come and help.

So, he went aboard his private jet and flew all the way to Buenos Aires.

"Si, si, I was wondering when you'd finally tell me." Cuba rubbed the back of his head as he and Argentina resumed their walk towards the latter's favorite hangout. "Been a few hours since I got here and you've been nothing but really cryptic about why you wanted me to come all the way here. What gives, Santiago?"

Argentina tensed and hugged the ovenbird to his chest. "I thought that it'd be better if I let you rest from the jetlag and fool around a little before I tell you. I wouldn't want to drop this bombshell on you when you're tired."

Cuba had to smile at that, even though he was now more worried over what Argentina wanted to tell him. "Heh, that's very nice of you, Santiago."

"D-Don't mention it," Argentina told him earnestly, although Cuba grinned when he saw the pale nation gaze even lower. Yup, he's definitely blushing. "Also, I'd prefer to speak of the matter in private and away from… people."

He nodded towards the humans all around them going about their everyday business, and some of which stared at them as the duo passed them. Eh, but it didn't really bother either of them honestly. Sure, it could get annoying sometimes, but it came with the job. Made sense they'd be curious as to why their nation plus another popular (and amazing) nation would be doing walking through town.

But Cuba, and probably even Argentina for that matter, didn't miss how the humans almost hastily stepped out of their personification's way and how a mother even had to quickly pull her son back when he didn't do the same thing.

As long as they didn't ostracize or isolated him, then it was fine. Cuba didn't really blame them either. Just like with their group, the fact that Argentina's mental state and their safety depended entirely on an ovenbird plush toy loomed over them. They just didn't wanna risk bumping into him or causing him to drop it.

It didn't help that in the event Argentina dropped his plushie and spent too much time without it, the first person he'll attack would often be the poor bastard who 'took his friend away'.

Trying to push those depressing thoughts away, Cuba smiled and clasped his friend's shoulder. "Si, we wouldn't want people to listen in and creating a ruckus. So, where are we gonna hang out, Santiago?"

He asked this in a friendly, happy, and curious way, without much thought. But when he saw Argentina perk up by abruptly lifting his head, to the point where Cuba caught a brief glimpse of some of his _face _(he tried not to grimace) and his smile… a sense of dread overcome the Caribbean.

Cuba _knew_ that smile. No, he knew what the way Argentina cheered up meant. I-It meant…

"No…" Cuba rasped as shook his head "No, no… Santiago, buddy, amigo, hermano, please don't tell me that we're going to-"

"Ooh, we're going to my favorite hangout, Max!" Argentina said cheerfully as he clapped his hands excitedly, obviously unaware of the horror on Cuba's face. "I've actually been meaning to invite you, Alfred and the others to see all the progress I've made, but all of you are always so busy whenever I bring it up…"

Because no one wanted to go to that place! And no sure as hell wanted to hurt a sweet guy like Argentina's feelings, especially since he's so passionate about it! It'd break his poor heart!

"No! Anything but that place, Santiago!"

The place Cuba was referring to was of course Argentina's rufous hornero aviary, his so-called 'pride and joy'. Now, he didn't have anything against Argentina's love and sanity dependence on birds (okay, maybe he did have a problem with the second thing), no one did. Some of them even went bird watching with him sometimes. When it came to Argentina's bird sanctuary on the other hand…

Cuba shuddered and held his arms in fear while Argentina kept talking animatedly in the background. Oh, the bird sanctuary. Where could he start? First, the placed smelled horrible, and that's only putting it mildly! Argentina had tons of those ovenbirds in there, and instead of keeping them in cages, he allowed them to make nests made from mud and dung! _Mud and dung!_ Do you have _any_ idea how gross that was?

Second, the sound those birds make. It's not _that_ bad, but that's only if you stay around for a short while. If you get stuck there for around an hour, then the birds' call will get really grating and drive you crazy. And these are the birds that supposedly helped Argentina's mind stay in good enough shape.

Third, when Argentina invites you to the aviary, he always wanted to share the fun of taking care of those migraine-inducing birds. In other words, you'll have to help feed all the countless ovenbirds, clean up after them, clean their mud and dung nests as well as the whole place, read them bedtime stories, and memorize their names.

Even after one trip to that place, everybody quickly dreaded ever getting invited by sweet, considerate, self-deprecating Argentina to visit his 'babies' and 'friends'. They'd all do their best to discourage Argentina, cut him off, or come up with a good excuse not to go.

And Cuba, the most genius man in the Caribbean, was so worried about the boss and what Argentina would want to tell him to come up with a good excuse to use later in case Argentina decided to drag him to the aviary!

No. He's not going there. No way!

M-Maybe Argentina will notice his discomfort with the idea and realize that this wasn't the time to clean up after birds living in mud and dung nests

But then Cuba wondered if Argentina had a hearing problem, because he kept beaming and he hugged his ovenbird lovingly to his chest. "But I'm so glad that you'll be able see what I've done with the place. I think I did the right thing."

"No! Santo Dios, please don't tell me that-"

"I'm going to show you my new house!

With that being the straw that broke the camel's back, Cuba collapsed to his knees and screamed at the heavens. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

…Wait a minute.

He did a double take once he realized that what Argentina said wasn't what he thought he was, and he gaped at the pale Latino. "Wait, what did you say?"

"Oh, Cuba, please don't kneel on the streets. You'll get your pants dirty and you might scrape your knees." Argentina softly advised him before he finally (finally!) noticed Cuba's manly tears. "But to answer your question, I said… Uh… Max? Why are you crying? Is it still from the smoking?"

Cuba blinked, and he noticed that he's kneeling on the boardwalk with his arms outstretched dramatically and that he was shedding tear. But what really made his feel like an idiot was how the humans were all staring and murmuring amongst themselves. Oh man, he just made a fool of himself in front of the humans of Buenos Aires _again!_

Feeling his face turned red from embarrassed, Cuba hastily got back on his feet and chuckled nervously. "Heh… heheh… Don't mind us, everybody! There's nothing to see here, so move along… please…?"

Unable to handle the shame anymore, Cuba grabbed Argentina's wrists and quickly dragged him away from the area as fast as he could (but obviously making sure that Argentina didn't accidentally drop his plushie). Well, the boss always said always knew how to make a scene…

Once they were far away enough, Cuba whipped his head to Argentina who was in that hunched position of his to hide his face and "What do you mean you're going to show me your new apartment?"

"Si, it's exactly what it sounds like. Don't you remember, Max?" Argentina sounded confused. "I moved into a new house last month. I realized how dreary and disorganized my place is, as, um, well as at how it was falling apart, so I moved into a better and, you know, _newer_ house. I told everyone at the group's last meeting and I even gave you guys the new address."

Ohhhhhhh… Oh yeah, Argentina did mention.

"Oh, yeah, you're right. You _did_ mention that…" Cuba said he smiled sheepishly. "Heh, my bad then. I should've known you meant _that_."

"Well, of course that's what I meant." Argentina tilted his head, unintentionally allowing some of the skin on his face to show. "What did you think I meant? You acted as if I was about to take you to España's house or something. I'd never do that to you."

Well, not intentionally, but…

"Yeah, what was I thinking?" Cuba chuckled nervously and he hoped Argentina wouldn't sense that he's hiding something. The South American may be mentally broken and obvlivious, but he's no idiot. "M-Maybe the smoke's messing with my brain. Let's see if I'm right…"

Cuba laughed some more and was about to inhale again from his cigar, only to find that it vanished from his fingers.

Gaping, Cuba blinked when he heard Argentina clear his throat and he saw that that scrawny stringy-haired Latino giving him a pointed glare had the cigarette between his fingers.

"I'm sorry, Max, but you're not smoking again on my watch." Argentina spoke with a firm tone and he pocketed the cigar in his pocket while Cuba yelped. "I'm doing this as a friend. I won't allow you to cause any more harm to yourself."

"No buts. No means _no_." Argentina was starting to sound like a parent now. "And I'm going to organize an intervention when this is over, whether you like it or not."

Cuba groaned. "Oh, come on! _Again?_"

/ / / / /

_(Final Fantasy VII OST: Anxious Heart)_

Naturally, Hungary couldn't believe what she just heard. Yes, it may sound dumb considering that she was that she was brought to another world via a spooky, scary supply closet, a world where the sun's red and it's dark all day long with different versions of the nations from her world, met three of those nations and found out that Italy's practically a dictator in this world all in the span of one day...

So, you'd probably expect that she'd stop questioning the impossibility of all these things and just go along with it. That was what Hungary actually decided on doing for the most part. It'll probably be easier for her this way.

But no, she still had to question this, despite everything.

"What do you mean you've been watching us through a mirror?!" Hungary demanded. "How the hell would you have gone and done that? How did we not see you?!"

"I'm not gonna tell you how it's possible or how we found out, lady. You don't deserve to know, at least not yet…" He grumbled that last part. "But I will tell you that Alfred's the only one who can see and vice versa... I did say that right, didn't I? Whatever. Those losers can't see me, not even that British sellout."

Oh, well, that's certainly helpful. Now she had a better understanding of it, she thought to herself sarcastically with an annoyed scowl. And what did he mean that she didn't deserve to know? She already got the spiel of the different worlds from Alfred, so why couldn't she know why Allen could apparently see Light World through a mirror.

But then Hungary remembered something Gillen mentioned earlier when he told her about how 9/11 affected Allen. He mentioned that when Allen had his breakdown, he went to every mirror in the apartment, begging America to answer him.

Huh, why didn't she question that earlier? She supposed it's because it wasn't the main focus of the story, but…

"The point is, thanks to my ability to see through the mirror to wherever Alfred's at as long as there's something, y'know, reflective enough, even _windows_, I had a front seat for the shitshow that is your world's politics." Allen smirked, and he clicked his tongue as he shook his head. "And boy, let me tell you. You guys suuusck."

Hungary puffed her cheeks as Allen burst into raucous laughter, but she didn't say anything to refute that. To be honest, he wasn't wrong. Politics were just an endless cycle of headaches, issues and controversy. Also, there were nations who sucked more than the Maelstrom of Saltstraumen. But why did he act like _his_ world was any better?

"I mean, seriously, why do you even hold those damn meetings?" Allen cackled even as he plopped on a chair. "At least we get something done other than not killing each other. Sure, there's people who'd love to tear their arch-nemesis's jaw off but you gotta be careful to not show any weakness to them. If you snap or freak out at every single thing, they'll figure you'll be easy to exploit."

The words flew right out of her mouth before she could stop them, "Then how are _you_ still alive then?"

Of course, that earned her a pissed off glare from Allen. Oh, Hungary and her big mouth.

"Because I know how to play the game." He hissed before his expression became cold and disdain, with his voice sounding lower. "Also, despite what you may think, I'm _not_ an idiot. I may be cranky, short-tempered and a jackass sometimes, but I know better than to mess up in front of the others. We're not friends, but I'd appreciate it if you at least _acknowledge_ that after everything I've been through."

She didn't miss how bitter he sounded when he spoke that last part, and what he said made her realize how insensitive that sounded.

Feeling a twinge of remorse, Hungary bit her lip. "You're right. That was insensitive of me. I'm sorry…"

Allen scrutinized her, as if trying to see if she really meant it. He sighed, "Fine, apology accepted. Geez, no need to look so guilty."

Hungary looked up at him, surprised. "Really?"

"What? I can be forgiving once in a while, you know." "Besides, you forgave me even after the way I treated you. If you can forgive me for that, then I don't see why I can't do the same after you said something shitty without even meaning to."

"And I guess I can understand why you'd think that, even though it still pissed me off." Allen very reluctantly and admitted, rather awkwardly too, as if he was forcing himself to say it." He briefly shot her a scowl before looking away. "I mean, I'm awesome and all kinds of badass, but… I understand that sometimes I can be a bit of an asshat."

Hungary's mouth twitched. _"Sometimes?"_

"Hey, we just met today, lady! Don't you fucking go off thinking you know me well enough to say that." Allen yelled with a glare that looked more hilarious than intimidating.

"Just like how _you_ don't know me well enough to see why Alfred chose me of all people to bring to the Dark World?"

"Yep, pretty much." Allen said pretty nonchalantly before making an 'I'm watching you' gesture. "You're on my list, lady. Remember that."

Hungary only rolled her eyes and nearly snorted in amusement. "I think you've stated that at least twice already."

"Can't risk you forgetting that, can I?" Allen scoffed before blowing his hair out of his face. "Anyway, we're getting way too off-topic here, lady. I was gonna tell you why I don't like you and the other Lightners, right? You want me to give the long version or the short version?"

"Which one will help me understand you better?" Hungary asked sincerely.

"Long version it is then. Great." She honestly didn't know if he meant that sincerely or sarcastically, but she payed close attention as Allen put his hands on his suddenly expressionless face. "Tell me, lady. Do you know what it's like to see your best friend, the person you'd go to hell and back for and love with all your heart, slowly get driven past the brink by a bunch of corrupt assholes while the only thing you can do is watch?"

Hungary was a little unnerved by how bitter he sounded, but his question, even though he probably wasn't expecting her to answer, did make her think back to Poland. Oh, Poland's been through a lot of things thanks to a lot of people, and there were many times where Hungary could do nothing for him, sometimes she couldn't be comfort him.

So, yes, she did know what it's like. All the anger, guilt despair and helplessness…

Why did she had to have such rotten luck?

"As a matter of fact, I do know." Hungary responded quietly, wringing her hands.

Allen looked surprised to hear that. "You do?"

"I know the feeling very well, actually…" Hungary tried not to think too much about the past. "So I can understand where you're coming from. You… You've been watching Alfred go about his life for God knows how many years, and I guess you've also heard him talk about what he had to put up with. But you can't do anything to help him except give him comfort and reassure him that everything will be fine.

Allen stared at her with an unreadable expression. "Huh, well, what do you know? I guess you do get me at least on some level, but better than nothin' I suppose. Maybe there's hope for you, after all.

Hungary let out a sigh. "Well, I hope that this shows that- Wait, what do you mean there's _hope_ for me after all?"

But Allen promptly ignored her question and continued, "But understanding or not, you still don't know what _both of us_ have to deal with. That friend of yours, I reckon he lives near your place, right?"

Hungary glared at him for ignoring her, but she nodded anyways. "Poland and I are only a couple countries apart, so yes, we're not far from each other."

At the mention of Poland, Allen's face twisted into a hateful scowl. _"…Poland?"_

She tried not to be startled at the sudden anger again. Goodness, how many kinds of scowls did he have? Oh, but who cares about that now, Hungary? She wondered if it was a mistake mentioning Poland. She sort of forgot that Prussia mentioned that this world's Poland was one of the bad guys…

"I-Igen, I mean, yes. Poland and I are good friends, we go way back." Hungary laughed, smiling fondly while Allen stared at her like she was crazy. Wouldn't be the first time, but still, it's a little uncomfortable… "D-Don't worry, I can promise you that he's a very charming and loyal man in my world."

"Hmm…" Allen looked reluctant to accept this, but he didn't comment on it any further and moved on, "At least _you_ two are a couple Eurotrash nations apart. Al and I, we're literally worlds apart and we gotta go through pains to make sure no one finds out. Hell, that's not the only thing that keeps us apart. Work, human trash, all kind of shit. He's the only one who can go back and forth while both of us can spy on the other through the mirror."

Hungary frowned at him. "I can see how that can be _worse_, but you can't say that there's no way I can relate to what you two have been through. In fact, it's our similar situations that helped us bond in the first place! Didn't Alfred tell you that?"

Allen shoulders hunched while he grumbled something in what sounded like Italian. "Fine, fine, I guess you're right… Ugh, we're getting off-topic again. Dammit, we're not supposed an angst-off over who had it worse with the friend thing. So shut your yap and let's back on track, Betsy."

_"Betsy?"_ Hungary repeated. Was that supposed to be an insult?

"So, while we go about our lives, trying to hide that the other one exists, and whenever Al can't come for a visit, we watch each other." Allen continued on as if Hungary hadn't spoken… again. "I do it a lot more often than he does. Yeah, yeah call me a stalker or a damn creep…"

"I wasn't even thinking of it that way until you brought it up…" Hungary muttered.

"…But I'm protective, sue me." Allen threw his hands up in frustration, and Hungary was beginning to wonder if he was saying that to someone else other than her. "I've been spying on you bastards for _years_; I've sat through _hours_ of your political meetings. I've seen what they've all done to him, dumping crap on them while ignoring their own crap and assholery."

Yep, that's pretty much the World Meetings in a nutshell, Hungary thought bitterly.

"And yeah, I've seen what Al did too…" Allen admitted rather begrudgingly. "Dammit, but I don't give a rat's ass about that. I don't give a damn about the war with that Asian communist bitch. It's not like the whole deal is working out that well for her anyway, it's not even truly communism! And the Middle East, they can all go to hell. They're _all_ scum. If I could, I'd get Saudi to show them the _true_ meaning of fear. And those Eurotrash can suck it too. I don't care about _any of them_."

While Hungary didn't really feel alarmed "Erm… I don't blame or judge you for hating them. I can very well understand how you feel, especially in these days. Isn't not feeling any empathy towards anyone who isn't Alfred kind of harsh? There's nations who are worth respecting, don't you think?"

She tried to put in the nicest, gentlest way she could so that she wouldn't get another glare. And guess what? Allen glared at her.

"Oh, don't try to stand up for them, Betsy. Your fellow nations are nothing but spineless, bratty, petty thugs who let a bunch of human geezers run the whole country no matter times it backfires spectacularly." Allen spat, voice dropping with hatred and disgust. "You let humans tell you what to do. You _believe_ they can rule. Who's the bastard who came up with that idea and thought it was a good one?"

"Well, it's not like we had a choice or that we asked for things to be this way!" Hungary exclaimed, glaring at him. "And what is with you and humans? You keep insulting them but for some reason you're angry at the idea that Italy might invade you, killing humans in the process. You hate them, but they live good lives here from what I've seen."

Allen gritted his teeth, obviously displeased by the question. "I don't… _hate_ humans, dammit."

Even he didn't sound confident of his own answer. Hungary raised an eyebrow, "Then do you just dislike them? Why keep insulting them?"

"Humans are ungrateful bastards. We nations fight tooth and nail for them, and they _still_ insist that we're not doing enough for them." "Look, do I really to fucking explain why? I'm surprised none of you Lightners feel the same way some of us do."

Hungary recalled the refugees in England, Germany, Sweden and France, and she decided that she understood why Allen felt that way. "You still haven't answered the first question. Why do you insult humans if you treat them so well?"

Allen began to look pained. "I… I care for my people, but sometimes I wish that I didn't…"

He trailed off, and his eyes widened as if he had come across a horrifying realization.

"A-Allen?" Hungary called out, but Allen turned around and buried his face in his hands.

"No… No, don't regret it. Remember what Gil said…" She heard him say with his voice muffled, then he began going into a mantra. "Think of Washington, think of Washington, think of everyone who…"

This went on for a concerning amount of time. Hungary bit her lip and glanced around in hopes that the others have come back, but it's just the two of them. Oh, what's she doing? He may be a bit of a pain (not to mention very rude and paranoid), but it wasn't right to just stand here while he… did this!

But just as Hungary reached out a hand, Allen abruptly removed his hands from his face and turned right back around with his usual scowl on his face.

"Um…"

"Don't. Ask." Allen snarled menacingly, his red eyes appearing to flow. "Forget I did that. And don't you dare mention this to anyone, _got it?_"

Hungary reluctantly nodded.

"Good. And dammit, we're not getting off-topic again, Betsy." Allen growled in his usual gruffness. "Bottom line is, you guys suck. I mean, except for Alfred and by some extension you, but the rest of you suck ass."

Hungary sweatdropped. At least he's back to normal. "And who are you to talk? You still haven't told me how your world is better. Aren't there terrible countries in this world too from what you all told me?"

Allen glanced to the side, face scrunching up in distaste. "Yeah, yeah, there's crapsack countries in this world too, I'm not denying that. Again, I'm not an idiot. I'll have you know that the fact that I'm trying to say that that British, my shit of a twin brother and all my other goddamn enemies are _slightly_ better than their dumbass counterparts makes me want to grab my bat and bash myself with it."

Weirdly specific, but alright. "But then why are you defending them?"

"Because as shitty and evil those irredeemable assholes are, they're not bratty, petty, or let those rotting humans push them around. They _know_ how to play the game right." Allen spoke coldly. "That's one of the things that makes them a hundred times more dangerous than their counterparts. They're smart, or at least clever for the most part. You gotta be if you don't wanna be trampled by the big guns."

Hungary frowned and sat down on a chair. "Well, it doesn't sound that different from our world. The moment you let your guard down or get your words wrong, you'll get eaten up by all the frustrated and greedy little tykes. And if you're weak and you're desperate so you go to the wrong person for help…"

"Chances are, you'll end up depending on them and being their little slave 'cause you can't risk pissing them off and losing the precious stuff you get from them," Allen sneered in disgust, and he leaned back in his chair. "Man, those poor saps… Still, it's their fault for not thinking things through."

Now Hungary glared at him. "How could you say that?"

"Hey, that's how it goes in this world, lady. Completely depending on one or two nations is _never_ a good sign." Allen shook his head in disapproval, looking strangely somber. "Dependency means weakness. Dependency means you're weak-willed. Dependency means that you lack a spine. Dependency means helplessness. Dependency means that you're a fool. Dependency means you're desperate. Dependency means vulnerability. Dependency paints a target on your back. Dependency means that you're practically guaranteed to fail."

Hungary felt compelled to argue, but Allen had good point, as harsh as it was…. Oh god, Allen had a good point.

Allen smirked wryly, as if aware how Hungary's at a loss how to respond. "Even the weakest of us are smart enough to at least stay alive in decent shape and keep their people in line, which their counterparts fail to do. They know better than to completely depend on others unless it's someone they know they can trust with their lives. Even the failures here aren't so lame like the ones in your world. Then again, everyone in your world is lame."

Again, Hungary shot him another glare, taking offense to that on her friends' behalf. Lame? Oh, Romania dog crap! Poland wasn't lame. Czechia wasn't lame. Bulgaria wasn't lame. Not even Slovakia was lame! Okay, the EU, Germany, England, France, Romania and Turkey were lame. She won't argue with _that_. But there's other nations who weren't lame either!

What did he know about them other than what he saw in the meetings? He didn't really know them.

"You know, back in the meeting decades ago, when Italy told us about the Light World? While a lot of his descriptions were on point, I think whoever sold your world out to that colossal asshat was ripping him off or something, cause he kept making it sound like your world is some kind of paradise where everything's all hunky-dory. Bullshit. You call that place a _paradise?_"

Allen laughed humorlessly while Hungary kept glaring at him.

But Allen wasn't done talking. "Those Africans of yours? Disasters. It looks like they didn't really stop to think what _to do_ after independence, and just assumed everything will magically become better after the Europeans leave. Those Asians? Well, economy, corruption, terrorism, religious nuts, and whatnot. The South Americans? Cartels, crime, corruption and murders galore. Europe? Heh, I think you _know_ what's wrong with them. All that brought upon themselves by their own fucking arrogance, shortsightedness and greed. Oh, and also thinking that _humans_ could be trusted in positions of power."

That's…

"Face it, Betsy." Allen said coldly. "While both our worlds are hot messes, at least my world's not run by idiots and _humans_."

"You think I'm _not_ disappointed or angry with the nations in my world? You think I don't see a good amount of them are morons?" Hungary scowled at the damn redhead, crossing her arms. "I've been spending the last several dealing with all the negative press, jeers and fines I got when I decided that I didn't want my country to turn into a multicultural _wasteland_."

"Yeah, so I've heard from Alfred." Allen said almost contemplatively and frowned, but Hungary didn't notice now that she got into the topic of _that_.

"Do you think it's easy being one of the only sane nations left in Europe? Do you really think I don't see what's wrong with my world?" Hungary's hands fisted her colorful skirt. "No, it's not easy and I'm not blind. If I was, do you really think Alfred and I would've gotten along so well?"

Allen didn't respond, instead settling on staring at her unreadably.

"I mean, I'm stuck in a corrupt union where I can be fined for defending my sovereignty and culture!" Hungary exclaimed angrily. "They can bully and strong-arm you into doing what they want, even if it'll cost your country. And worst of all, I can't leave! Even when England said he would three years ago, he _still_ hasn't done it.

"Aw yeah… Alfred mentioned that the old British cocksucker's taking forever in the…" Allen finally spoke, scrunching up his face in confusion as he scratched his head. "Whatsit called again? Fix-it Felix?"

Hungary felt the corners of her mouth turn up. _"Brexit."_

"Oh…" Allen said nonchalantly, pulling up a chair. "Yeah, it's kind of like the mafia, ain't it? Once you get in, you can't leave. And if you try to leave, shitty stuff happens and you end up accomplishing _nothing_."

"Yeah… You're right…"

/ / / / /

'Try to bond with her,' Flavio told him. 'You know how much fun you have going on and on about someone you hate with another nation who feels the same way. I reckon you'll enjoy trash-talking the European Union with Miss Elizaveta."

Allen had no idea what to make of that at first, other than the fact that it's surprisingly… not… _bad_. But he didn't know how to do it, and he pretty much only did the trash-talking thing with real friends. And the lady… uh…

He just didn't know what to do. He didn't even really wanna do it, since he didn't wanna talk to the chick in the first place. But Flavio… it's real hard for Allen to disobey him, no matter how hard he tried.

Besides, every time he took a look at that chick's face, it's fucking hard not to see Erszi.

What should _she_ think, if they told her what happened today…?

…

Well, Allen always did enjoy a good bashing…

/ / / / /

_"Cazzo!"_

Immediately after cursing out loud, in his anger, Italy threw yet _another_ knife at the wall. It then got stuck on said wall along with all the other knives he threw. It's gonna cost him to repair the damage, but Italy honestly didn't give a damn.

He's been through this oh so many times in his life. Every time he found out that his brother left to waste time with America and all those other bastards without even bothering to inform him most of the time, much less say goodbye, Italy found himself brimming with an unfathomable rage and hatred towards Romano and his precious _friends_.

Every time, Romano always chose them over him, _his own brother_. But then again, who could blame sweet Romano for running away without a word? It's not like Italy was the boss of him or had any kind of authority over him. It's not like his brother needed his permission. Romano was the older sibling, after all. Italy tightly gripped his next knife. But he wished he had authority over him, he wished Romano wouldn't be so _foolish_.

This won't be forever, he reminded himself. If everything went according to plan as _he_ said it would, then it's only a matter of time before Romano finally saw reason. If he didn't, then Italy will have to make him see reason.

Oh, he'll wait for his brother. And when he'll come back, and Romano always came back, Italy will finally settle this. He'll _make_ his brother choose him.

**Please review if you have a minute.**


	11. An Understanding?

**Thanks to Redbayly and NadiaJA627 for reviewing. I'm sorry for uploading this late. Some of you probably know that I updated a couple days ago, but I deleted the chapter because I started not to like it. But after some checking and corrections, it's now ready. I apologize for the confusion. Now, on with the show!**

_(Jet Set Radio Future OST: Aisle 10)_

Despite how right now he didn't really give a damn about Betsy's backstory or whatever, there were some things he just didn't get about her.

To start things off, what the fucking fuck did she see in that cross-dressing Catholic valley girl? Allen wondered if this nutty version of the Poland who once made Gil's life a living hell back then had some kind of hidden depth or some shit. No one could be that amazingly dense and silly after almost dying a shit ton of times and going through the hell that was the Holocaust and then the Soviet Union.

There was one guy who went through a similar thing, and he turned out _great_.

Then again, maybe they're friends 'cause they're both fucking nuts. Seriously, a cross-dressing Catholic valley girl who survived the Holocaust and the Soviet Union who's childhood friends with a chick who found out she didn't have a dick when she hit puberty, used a frying pan as a weapon, and who also loved seeing guys 'duking it out'. Why, they're _made_ for each other.

Not like some of Betsy's other buddies were that much better. Lightner Slovakia's a sloppy easy-going dude who didn't punch Czechia for being an annoying bitch and due to some complicated stuff, he's not on very good terms with Betsy. Lightner Bosnia and Herzegovina were happily/unhappily married but weren't hopelessly in love with each other. Lightner Bulgaria had a part-time job as a yogurt fairy (no, really). You get his point, right?

And maybe that's also why she's all buddy-buddy with Alfred now. He's pretty nuts too. They're all nuts, one way or another…

Yet ironically, despite how creepy her gay fetish was or how Lightner Poland's cross-dressing made no sense (although, when did cross-dressing _ever_ made any fucking sense?), they're one of the few sane bastards left in Europe. For not falling for the whole 'refugee' shtick and not letting the leeching assholes overrun their countries, they have Allen's respect.

When thinking of the whole sitchiation in Europe, Allen always couldn't help but wonder what good o'l Saudi and the Middle Eastern gang would think about it. Hell, sometimes he even wondered what the pieces of pigshit of this world's Europe would think. Saudi would laugh at the Lightners, that's for sure. And the others, well, who would blame them for being ashamed of having the same faces as those pushovers?

But Saudi… Heh, that guy would help set them straight. The other guys could be pretty terrifying in their own ways too. Ha! Allen would pay a billion bucks to see how those damn Lightners would react to them.

Gah, he's getting off-topic again. Damn his short attention span to hell. What's with that, anyway? Wasn't Al supposed to the one who got easily distracted and shit? Goddammit, he's doing it again. What he wanted to say was… Ugh, what the hell _did_ he want to say?

He's trying to distract himself from the fact that Betsy took his immeasurable hatred for the crappy World of Light (paradise my _ass_, Italy) pretty… well, for the most part. There were some shouts here and there (and not just from him, dammit), but he didn't think he did anything to further sour Betsy's opinion of him, so there's that.

Dare he say it, they're actually… sort… kind of… getting along in way?

"So, what's the whole deal with that Fix-it Felix or Brexit or whatever?" Allen thought to ask, not caring that he sounded a little nonchalant. "Is that limey bastard gonna hightail it outta the E fucking U or not?"

Putting his indescribable anger and murderous hatred for his own world's England (parentkillerparentkillerparentkillerDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEWHYWON'TYOUJUSTFUCKING-), Allen also had his beef with the Light World England. Sure, he's nowhere near as bad as his goddamn counterpart, but damn, was he obnoxious. It was so bad that Allen gave even less of a fuck about that asshole than the other Lightners

On the bright side, Allen won't feel any remorse if said asshole _vanished_ _from_ _existence_ when he finally got his fucking hands on that cupcake bastard. And Alfred's life would be made a _little_ bit easier to deal with.

One day…

"You tell me. That bushy-eyed hypocrite was supposed to have left two years ago." Betsy rolled her eyes and crossed her arms on the trouble. "But there's been delay after delay after delay, so much that I don't think that he's gonna be leaving anytime soon."

Allen sneered as he took out his bowl of chili from the microwave. Good stuff. He grabbed a big spoon and started digging in, "You got that right, Betsy. If you ask me, that rat's all hat and no cattle. Which is damn embarrassing 'cause I hear he actually had a lotta cattle back in the day."

He put in a spoonful of fucking delicious chili into his mouth. Ah, chili. Wow, that's spicy. And this wasn't just any normal chili recipe, this was his All-American chili recipe. It even has Flavio's seal of approval, and as annoying as the guy, he sure could cook. And this chili's one of the few foods with meat that Allen's willing to eat!

Unsurprisingly, it took Betsy a few seconds to catch his drift. "Oh, I agree. It's quite sad, isn't it? You know… how the mighty have fallen and all. I mean, it's not like I'm fond of a lot of them, and many nations of the EU have been treating me shoddily, but it's hard not to feel a little bad for England and the others…"

Allen shrugged and gleefully took in a big spoonful of chili, licking his lips. "Not for me, Betsy. I don't give a damn what happens to them. They've brought that mess upon themselves."

"Oh, you've made that painfully clear. Still, even though they and their people should've known better, it doesn't mean I enjoy seeing them suffer." The Hungarian lady sighed sadly. "I mean, at first it can feel kind of satisfying seeing those hypocrites keep going downhill, but it doesn't feel right enjoying it. I don't like seeing all those innocent people get killed in terrorist attacks or all those poor girls getting raped with the police hardly doing anything about it. It's twisted, and it won't make you any better than them."

_It won't make you any better them._

Now didn't that sound familiar? America smiled wryly. Well, what do you know? Of fucking course she'd say the same thing Erszi once told him. What a coincidence. Maybe those two were alike after all…

"I'm not saying I feel bad for the humans screwing over, I just hate that many of them are so blind to the truth." Allen clarified. Who did she think he was? Saudi or Bahrain? I mean, they rock, but… "I'm an awesome jerk, not a monster. Still, they're jerks. They need _some_ kind of comeuppance."

"I guess…" Betsy muttered, then her eyes trailed over to the bowl of chili Allen's devouring. "Is that… _chili_ you're eating?"

"What? I'm hungry. And I love spicy stuff, it helps with the stress." Allen huffed before offering the bowl to her. "You want some too?"

Betsy stared at the bowl, pensive, before humming, "Well, I am a little hungry…"

"Cool. The stove's over there." Allen gestured before shrugging with a lazy smirk. "Try not to burn down the kitchen, will ya?"

Of course, Betsy gave him the death glare again, but that was nothing compared to the look on her face when Allen burst out laughing. God, and here he thought she could take a joke. Oh, she's a little too easy to provoke.

"Ha! I'm just kidding, Betsy. There's more in the fridge." Allen grinned before eating another spoonful of chili. "You're free to grab one, just not all of 'em."

Betsy smiled exasperatedly, you know, one of those twitching smiles Flavio often gave Allen whenever the redhead kept refusing to go fucking shopping with him. "Thank you."

Before Allen knew it, they were talking shit about the EU over some good chili. After a bit more pondering and awkward sielence, he did exactly what Flavio suggested. Vent out their frustrations. Let out all their hatred for the crappy politics of the World of Light. Yeah, starting a conversation with a chick who looked and acted everything and nothing like a certain sickeningly-sweet woman he knew wasn't his strong suit… but he managed.

"Anyway, going back to the whole EU thing," Allen waved his spoon around. "What do you guys do when you and the other nations get together for an EU meeting? I mean, I know what the damn human politicians do. They lie and argue, that's all they ever do in these kinds of things. So what do you guys do? The same thing but worse?"

"Well, it…" Betsy trailed off and then shrieked, dropping her spoon to cover her mouth. "Oh, sweet Magyar's hair, this is hot!"

"Hey, at least you didn't run out screaming like Erszi did." Allen cracked a smirk at the memory of that incident. No wondered Erszi's got sensitive taste buds. She's got sugar, everything nice, but no spice. "Now, come on, give me the details."

Betsy coughed and hastily drank some water. Then when she was finished, she glared at him while Allen kept smirking. "Does my well-being matter that little to you?"

"Nah, it's not that. I'm just amazed that that's enough to make you freak out." Allen remarked nonchalantly before he more of his chili. "Didn't a version of paprika come from you? I thought you could handle hot stuff."

Hungary huffed before coughing some more, and she gulped down some more water. "Just because it came from me, doesn't mean I can… Oh! Just what did you put in this?!"

"Ghost pepper, but I put a couple of other stuff too."

Betsy's eyes widened in shock, and then she gave him the death glare once again. "Ghost pepper?! Well, that explains everything! No _wonder_ Erszi ran out screaming. Are you insane, Allen? Aren't ghost peppers hot enough to bring a grown man to his knees?!"

"So? Humans are weak and don't have _our_ endurance." Allen reminded her, and he laughed as he sat back in his chair. "Jeez, and here I thought you were _tough_."

"Do you want to hear about the European Union or not?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay, I'm sorry." Allen raised his hands in surrender. "So, what it's like in EU meetings? What do you guys fight over?

"Well, it depends on whatever the others angry at the time." Betsy explained, her eyes looking a little red and puffy from the chili. "They'll either hurl insults at England for the whole Brexit thing, rightfully blame Germany and prime minister for this whole mess with the Muslims, get mad at me, Poland and the others for protecting our countries, or just be a World Meeting except only the EU members are there."

Allen snorted in derision. "That's pretty damn stupid."

"You're telling me," Betsy rolled her eyes, stabbing her chili with her spoon. "And let me tell you, these meetings are getting slowly worse with each year passing. I can't say I blame the others. Well, I can, since they're the ones who keep refusing to see that they're wrong, but I feel bad for them. England's dealing with Brexit, and London's getting drearier and drearier. France is dealing with his protests and even he's sick of his boss. Sweden is practically fucked…"

"Yeah, I can't believe _I'm_ saying this, but poor Swedes." Allen grimaced. Shit, was the chili messing with his head? "If there's anyone I really genuinely feel bad for, it's Lightner Sweden. He used be tough, badass Viking, dammit! And look at him now, full of doormats and snowflakes. Whatever happened to the old Sweden?"

Especially when this Sweden actually sounded better than this world's Sweden…

"Oh, yes, I completely agree. Unlike the others, Sweden does see that this whole immigrant thing was a mistake, but they always give him a hard time every time he brings it up." He heard Betsy's voice say while he was distracted with his own thoughts. "He's a good man. He's just helpless. He can't do anything with his current government. His people are starting to see reason too now that they're dealing with all the consequences…"

Sweden…

Allen began growling. He didn't notice that Betsy could perfectly hear him, or that he was beginning to tremble in barely-restrained rage. That damn Viking… Why did… Why couldn't he just… Why… Why…?

"Uh… Allen?"

"Yeah, lady?"

"Are you… all right?"

"Just dandy. Why do you ask?"

"Because you look like you're ready to fly into a fit of murderous rage. Also, you broke your spoon."

He looked at his hand and saw that, yeah, he broke the big steel spoon in two. "…Oh."

Allen quickly got a replacement spoon and kept his fingers crossed that Flavio won't scold him for destroying utensils again. He made sure to make it clear to Betsy that he didn't want to discuss what's pissed him off so much. Luckily, Betsy understood and didn't press it. He would've thanked her, but he wanted to forget that happened as _soon_ as possible.

Somehow… they did.

He cursed at himself, he even wanted to give himself a big facepalm. Shit, shit, what's he doing thinking of the past in a time like this? Wasn't he supposed to have a good time bashing the EU too? Then why was he thinking about those bastards and how much they piss him off?! They're probably laughing at him, they probably know that they haunt him even when they're so many miles away…

Allen tried not to let his frustration with himself show, and instead tried to pass it off as him being his usual self or just wondering what the hell's taking Al, Flavio and Gil so fucking long in going for the _pizza_. It _better_ not be cold by the time Flavio finally decided they should show up.

He tried to take his mind off all that crap by throwing shit at the EU.

"Who did those jackasses think they are, thinking they know better about how to handle immigrants than Al?" Allen snarled as he wolfed down the last of his chili. "I mean, if he doesn't have any right to boss _them_ around, then they don't have any right to boss _him_ around either. Al's got no intention of turning into a mess like them."

"Hypocrisy is the one of the defining traits of the EU. What did you expect?" Hungary said bitterly.

"What do I expect? At this point: _nothing_. Every time I think that they can't go any lower, your world keeps surprising me. I swear, their capital cities could be sieged by bombs, gang-rapes with gajillions of men in ISIS uniforms and women covered in blankets yelling 'Admiral Ackbar!' or whatever, and they _still_ won't admit that they're wrong."

"You got that right…" Betsy. muttered, then suddenly she started to _giggle_. _Why?_

"What's with you?" Allen asked with a scowl.

Betsy stopped fucking giggling to give him one of those dazzling smiles that looked way too similar to Erszi's for Allen's comfort. "Heh, I'm sorry. It's just… it's a little hard to believe this is happening, no?"

Allen shrugged, and he tried to scrape whatever chili he had left off the bowl. "Yeah, the whole there's another world thing is pretty surreal. We get it."

"Well, yes, but that's not the only thing." Betsy smiled mischievously and nudged Allen on the shoulder. "We're sort of getting along."

Allen felt his face burn red, and looked away from Betsy's damn smile (_why_ did she have to look so much like _her_?), grumbling "Guess you could say that."

"Oh, don't try to deny it, Allen." There was that damn laugh again. "Yes, we may not agree on a lot of things. You may think people I genuinely admire are mediocre or just a little less scummy than the other nations, but we do agree on some things. You hate the EU for just about the same reasons as I do."

"That doesn't make us friends, you know…" Allen said stubbornly.

"Yet we're bonding over it." Betsy's smile only seemed to grow wider. "You're even behaving less like a jerk to me."

"Yeah right," Allen scoffed, despite knowing that she's- "You only think I'm acting nicer 'cause you're not the one I'm throwing shit at."

"That's not it, Allen. You really have been on better behavior," Betsy just kept grinning and grinning… God, Allen felt like a little kid. "You've stopped mocking me… for the most part. And I see now that you're a lot more understanding and perceptive than you look. I think I can see now why you and Alfred are such good friends."

Allen felt compelled to act angry, and he scowled "Well, _of course_ we're best friends, dammit!"

"Oh, I know. But come on, admit it. You're starting to like me too."

"Puh-lease. If anything, I'm just starting to find you a little more tolerable be around with." Allen growled, and he gave her the 'I'm watching you' gesture again. "You're still on my watch list, lady. I'm gonna be keeping an eye on you."

But Betsy just laughed merrily, not even taking Allen seriously. Ugh, women. He sank into his seat, grumbling to himself. Why did Allen feel a strange sense of déjà vu?

Oh, yeah. He knew why. This was Erszi's counterpart he was talking about. Figures.

Still, Allen won't deny that she's not… completely wrong. He just won't admit it to her face.

/ / / / /

_(Deltarune OST: Thrash Machine)_

"Good Gott, it appears you were right, Flavio…" Gillen whispered in surprise, gaping. "It appears they really are getting along somewhat getting along."

"Si… si… si!" Flavio giggled to himself, which slowly became cackles. "I am once again proven to be a complete utter and fabulous GE-"

His moment of glory was then swiftly interrupted by Gillen slapping a hand over the South Italian's mouth. "Shh! do you _want_ Allen to hear you? If he finds out that we've been hiding here for the past ten minutes, then we'll never hear the end of it."

Flavio grabbed Gillen's hand and gently removed it from his mouth, revealing a beaming smile. "But you must admit, I am a genius, no?"

Gillen rolled his eyes, but he smiled nonetheless. "Ja, you are. A _fabulous_ one at that."

Flavio let out a girlish squeal.

"I never doubted you for a minute, Flavs." America said happily, patting the Italian unintentionally a bit too roughly on the back, causing the latter to wince. But America was way too overjoyed to notice. "Your plans never fail, dude. And I knew Allen would come through in the end. He always does."

"Indeed he does. If only he doesn't take so long to do so…" "Shouldn't we stop hiding now? I believe we've taken long enough."

"Now, now, I think we can let those two bond for a little while longer, can't we?" Flavio smiled slyly. "We wouldn't want to interrupt, would we?"

Gillen looked unsure, but he knew he wouldn't be able to convince Flavio, so he sighed. "Oh, fine. Let's just hope Allen won't hear us."

"YOU BASTARDS BETTER COME OUT OF HIDING NOW! IF THE PIZZA GETS COLD, THEN YOU'RE GONNA PAY, LITERALLY AND FIGURATIVELY!"

"…You know, I think he heard us, dudes." America whispered to them.

/ / / / /

_(Deltarune OST: School)_

Canada was left absolutely baffled when Taiwan abruptly ran off.

He still had no idea what happened, or… w-what could've caused her to react this way. Maple, Canada was just staring at the mirror America kept in the supply closet for some reason when he noticed that Taiwan looked kinda pale and… really shocked for some reason. For a moment, Canada wondered if she found a zit or something, but he just knew that something wasn't right…

Canada decided to call out to her, but for a long while it seemed that she didn't hear him. She just kept staring at the mirror, her expression growing increasingly horrified with each passing moment. He even stopped speaking quietly and raised his voice, but even _that_ didn't work.

(Unbeknownst to him, what to him was 'raising his voice' was actually barely any louder than his usual voice)

Eventually Taiwan did snap out of it, and she looked like she'd seen a ghost. Then she hightailed it out of here before Canada could even try to politely ask her more questions. Just what got into her?

He would've gone after her, but if she was really distressed, it might be best to give her some time to calm down before seeing if she's okay. Maybe Vietnam or Vatican City could help her too. Besides, Canada didn't want to be pelted with insults and be mockingly called 'Bob' every five minutes… Oh, and Taiwan might snap a lot more easily since she's shaken, so…

Um, yeah, Canada's gonna wait it out for a while. He didn't know if his self-esteem could take so many insults and name-calling.

Well, uh, in the meantime… How about he just forget this whole thing happened, give up on the whole trying to find out what the heck America did here, and… check if England and France were available and not killing each other…?

Canada bit his lip and shot a nervous glance at the mirror. He trembled, and then let out a sigh.

But… he really did have to wonder… just what happened to Taiwan? Canada doubted that freak-out was all because of Taiwan forgetting that she was supposed to meet with Vatican City for a Bible study. All she did was stare at the mirror and… that's pretty much it. Canada didn't think it was because of him… or was it _really_ because of him? No, it couldn't be…

He threw another glance at the mirror, and he frowned, shuffling his feet. T-To be honest, he never really liked that mirror. Yeah, it sounded silly, but it's just… sometimes when he's alone with that thing, he always felt a little uneasy and… Oh, he's probably sounded paranoid, didn't he?

Canada would've told Taiwan about this too, but Canada didn't want to endure any more verbal abuse, especially since it's something that he himself wasn't sure of and didn't feel comfortable sharing. R-Really, who knows? For all he knew, maybe the bad feeling he got whenever he gazed into the mirror or even sometimes when he entered the room was just the result of his dumb paranoia! Maybe America's superstition's affecting him, haha…

Well… if he could even more honest, this wouldn't be the first time that something weird happened with this room and/or the involved…

No, really. He's not kidding. Something weird happened to Canada too. When he was first investigating what Alfred could be doing in that supply closet and why (oh, he could just hear Taiwan scolding him now), one day. Canada was suddenly struck with a strong feeling of something's really off. But he tried not to let that scare him off, so he went about his normal day without any problem…

But every now and then, he'd keep getting the weird bad feeling whenever he went into the supply closet. Canada didn't know _why_ he'd get that feeling. Was it really just paranoia? Or was it guilt for trying to spy on America? It could be, it's not like he liked doing this…

Canada didn't want to intrude on America's alone time just to satisfy his own curiosity, despite how many times Taiwan accused him of doing just that. He's just worried about his brother and wanted to see if he's doing well, you know, psychologically.

Come on, try to hear your brother talking to himself in a stinky supply closet and not get at least a little worried.

So, you'd think with the guilt thing in mind that Canada would quit stalling and confront America about what's with him and every now and then going into a closet to either talk to himself or just disappear completely.

But in the end, Canada was indecisive, so he did nothing. He didn't talk to America about the closet but he did keep checking on him. Call him a coward, but Canada was honestly a little scared of America getting angry with him for trying to intrude. His brother was always surprisingly secretive sometimes

Canada sighed as he walked through the empty halls. Wasn't the break almost over? He should have a few minutes, maybe ten, left. How about he spent those minutes trying to relax and carefully think about what he could do and…

"Oh, America!"

…Or he could try to remind people that he existed. That works too.

"America, where the bloody hell have you been?!" England shouted as he stormed towards the exasperated Canada. "You've got a lot of nerve running away from me. And where's Hungary? She still has to answer for what she said!"

Canada dejectedly turned towards him. "…I'm Canada…"

"Who?"

Canada sighed, and he decided to raise his voice (unbeknownst to him, it was barely any louder than his usual voice). "I'm Canada! You know, America's twin brother! You raised me too along with him and I have your darn queen as my head of state."

England blinked, and he remained there staring at Canada, scrutinizing him. Luckily, as if the universe took pity on Canada, it didn't take long for England to finally remember him, and a look of embarrassment flickered across the Brit's face.

"O-Oh, Canada! I sincerely apologize. I…" _Didn't remember you existed_, but of course England wasn't going to say that, so quickly tried to pretend nothing happened. Well, at least he apologized, Canada thought morosely. "A-Anyway, have you seen Alfred or that Hungarian harlot for that matter? They've completely vanished."

Maple, was _everyone_ looking for them? Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration. So far including England here there have only been two nations who were looking for America and Hungary as far as Canada knew. But why did he get the feeling that there's gonna be a manhunt for them soon?

Anyway, Hungarian harlot?! That's definitely not nice, or gentlemanly for that matter!

"I-Isn't calling Hungary a little too harsh?" Canada asked anxiously, wondering if England was in his more unstable moods right now. "I mean, I know you're mad at her, but-"

"Rubbish. She deserves some flak after all the trouble she's caused us." England waved off Canada's concerns and glanced around suspiciously. "Now, have you seen her and America or not, Matthew? The break's almost over and I want to at least give them a stern-talking to for a few minutes."

For what to be the thousandth time today, Canada sighed. "No, I haven't seen them. I don't know where they could be either."

He obviously wasn't going to mention the whole supply closet thing to England. Doing so would deprive Alfred of his private place. The main reason why Canada decided to share the story to Taiwan was because he genuinely felt bad for her, and he thought the two of them hanging out together could help cheer both of them up.

And Canada might be still a _little_ bitter about England not recognizing him, and calling Hungary a harlot was kind of uncalled for.

England made an ugly scowl "Oh, blast it. We're never going to find them at this rate. I'll just have to confront them after the meeting's over."

"Yeah, you go do that," Canada said absentmindedly, not that England was listening.

Just where was America?

/ / / / /

_(Deltarune OST: Quiet Autumn)_

You know, it occurred to Taiwan mid-way to her speeding through the halls, away from the closest, away from… from that, that she was just running around aimlessly. She didn't have a destination nor did she have any idea where should she go.

Well, guess what? She didn't really care at the moment.

She was scared out of her wits, confused beyond belief, and possibly worst of all, she had no idea whether or not she was hallucinating. Taiwan's still dealing with the shock of it all, and she didn't know what to do. Who could she confide in about this who won't immediately laugh off her worries, think she's going insane or assure her that she was just seeing things?

Taiwan bit her lip. Was she just seeing things? There's no way she had anything that'll make her hallucinate. She felt just fine (you know, physically). And it looked real, too real…

She still couldn't get the image of her, whoever that was who looked just like Taiwan, struggling in that brutish Canada's grip. It was burned in her mind. The black-haired, fancily-dressed Taiwan's terrified expression and her mouth opening to let out a scream that the real Taiwan couldn't hear, before finally getting decapitated.

Who would _believe_ her? Well, Cambodia came to mind. That guy's always been superstitious, even more so than Thailand. Yeah, Thailand's super nice and never made fun of her. Maybe Taiwan could talk to him and ask for his advice. He'd be able to help… maybe.

Now she seriously considering finding Vatican City and ask her if she could join her over a Bible study or a prayer session after all. True, while Vatican City could be a little preachy (even when she _wasn't_ preaching) sometimes whenever she got too into the 'Holy Spirit', the activities could be a little enlightening sometimes… maybe the holiness will scare whatever demon that's possessing the mirror and not give Taiwan any nightmares…

That, or Taiwan could borrow Vatican City's holy water spray.

She smiled as she actually started to like the idea… until Taiwan realized something. Wait, what would America think if he saw that there's holy water all over his precious private supply closet? Sure, it was all dirty and awful-smelling, but she didn't want to risk ruining it…

And speaking of America, this brought up another question. Did… Did he know that there might be something off about the mirror he kept in the closet?

No, America wouldn't do something to the mirror that would terrify Taiwan. He wouldn't do that to her…

Well, Taiwan didn't know if she really did saw what she thought she saw and… Should she tell him about the mirror or…?

Taiwan sighed. Maybe she should just go to Thailand and spare herself the headache. She could think about what else she could do after she's had some nice tea and reassurances that she's not going crazy.

Oh, America. Where on Earth could you be?

/ / / / /

_(Pokemon Pearl & Diamond: Jubilife City)_

On the trip to Argentina's apartment, Cuba was of course the one driving while the other nation instructed him on where to go. Yeah, it might sound that he's being a jerk by not trusting his buddy, but Argentina himself was scared to drive a car unless he had the ovenbird taped to his body.

There's never been a time when Argentina's lost in while driving, but frankly, _neither_ of them wanted to find out how it'd be like.

About fifteen-twenty minutes of Cuba moping over the fact that he's gonna have to put up with another intervention again, Argentina engaging in baby-talk with his ovenbird, and _driving_ later they finally arrived at Argentina's new place.

And when they did, Cuba was pretty impressed. Just like his buddy said, the house looked pretty nice and new from the outside, nothing like the old run-down place Argentina owned previously. Huh, looks like Cuba won't have to worry about finding cockroaches scurrying beneath his shoes, walking straight into cobwebs, accidentally knocking down a door, or having the floorboards caving in anymore…

Yeah, Cuba was over the moon over Argentina finally getting a new place.

"I had been thinking of getting a new house for a few months now, but it was hard letting go of the old place, especially with all the memories I made there…" Argentina had said somberly, head bowed lower than usual. "But it was also those memories that encouraged me to move on and let go so that I could live in a better place and live happier."

Cuba smiled sadly and clasped his friend's shoulder. "Ay, don't be all sad, Santi. You had the strength to make the right choice, and you did! And that's what matters. We couldn't be happier for you, _amigo_."

"_Si_. I… I see now that it was for the best. I needed to treat myself better. Just because my mind is broken, doesn't mean I believe I'm less than a person. Al told me that, helped a lot with my decision," Argentina said fondly, and Cuba beamed. That's the boss, alright. "I think it'd be good for my mind. I certainly do feel more at ease now…"

Argentina was never a lavish or luxurious kind of country, it's not in the guy's nature. He doesn't like being flashy and stylish like Romano (and Romano had his valid criticisms of Tina's fashion style and hair. Cuba didn't think he could _ever_ imagine Argentina being a metrosexual hipster like that guy. It'd be like trying to imagine himself not being loyal to the boss and being fat from eating too much ice cream…

Cuba snorted and nearly brayed with laughter. Yeah, like that's possible.

No, Argentina's a much simpler and modest man… although he _could_ wash his hair and get some new clothes every now and then. Sure, it might drive attention away from the face, but man, hopefully with this whole 'taking better care of himself' thing he'll realize that it couldn't be good for his personal hygiene. 'Sides, he smelled like ovenbird… in more ways than one.

They exited the car, with Cuba chuckling over how Argentina was practically beaming under that mop of hair. Then when Argentina excitedly took out his house keys and unlocked the door, Cuba was pleasantly surprised to not be greeted by a dirty room and ovenbird cages.

Cuba gawked as he stared at the surroundings of Argentina's new house in amazement. Wow, Tina wasn't kidding around when he said that he's got himself a cool new place. Sure, it's nothing fancy or too expensive, but it looks really comfy. Good for him, honestly.

Oh, and the couches and all the other furniture! It's not old, filled with rats, dust bunnies and other creepy crawlies! Cuba grinned when he plopped down on a chair… a new, modern, clean, pest-free chair! And it didn't creak or break when he sat down! Everything was clean and habitable! Thank God that Argentina went through the trouble of getting all this. Yeah, it's really overdue but better late than never.

"Okay, we're here at your new house. And I gotta say, the whole place looks pretty neat..." Cuba remarked with a smile, making Argentina blush. "So, now that that's out of the way, what's the big news, Santiago? Someone bothering you again?"

_(Final Fantasy VII OST: Anxious Heart)_

Argentina slightly shook his head, careful not to expose his face. "No, not really… Then again, that might be one way to describe what happened."

Cuba grew more concerned with this, and he leaned forward. "What happened, Santiago?"

In response, Argentina hunched his shoulders and his head bowed lower than normally, not even allowing Cuba to see his friend's eye. He started playing with his little ovenbird plushy, petting it and lifting it by the wings. It didn't look like he was stalling, that didn't sound Argentina, but it did look like he was wondering _how_ he should explain to Cuba what's going on.

Argentina's not exactly an easy guy to read, maybe that messy mop of hair covering his whole face 'cept for his crazy left eye had something to do it with it. That, and maybe the fact that his mind's not in good shape either. Sure, he's a completely sincere and super-nice guy with the ovenbird (but he's still a _little_ creepy sometimes), Cuba didn't doubt that for a minute, but he had to remember that Argentina's _broken_.

So this meant that nice or not, sane or crazy, there's really no way to _really_ know what's on Argentina's mind. Even when he had the ovenbird on him, Cuba and the others have noticed some traces of his… erm… _craziness_.

A broken mind couldn't think the same way as a healthy one did, could it?

Sometimes Cuba wondered what it's like to be in Argentina's condition. He once tried asking him, but no matter how Argentina attempted to explain it, he'd always end up feeling pretty distressed. It must be pretty hard trying to live a normal life with a bird being the only thing stopping you from attacking anything that breathes.

Eventually, Argentina seemed to finally decide on something, and he slowly lifted his head back up, making sure not to expose anything other than one of his eyes and some of the skin around it. Cuba couldn't help but feel a little anxious. Man, he hoped that that the Chupacabra didn't escape into South America again. He didn't want to dress up as a goat and act as the bait again…

Or worse, what if Argentina had found out that Mexico had a plan to drug the boss again. What if that witch wanted to try to make the boss her sex slave again? Oh, Cuba could just die. He didn't want him, the boss nor anyone else to go through that whole adventure again. Cuba didn't want to be bitch-slapped by a crazed boss again.

"A couple of days ago, I've received an alarming report from my security agents." Argentina began gravely, clenching his fists. "They've stated that they've discovered and apprehended a group of North Italian spies in the Tucumán Province. While they are still in the process of being questioned, they claim that they have been sent here _recently_."

And just like that, all the remaining lightheartedness was sucked out of the area.

The Caribbean stared at Argentina in shock, but the pale man kept looking at him straight in the eye. Even though Cuba couldn't see his past except for the one guy, he just knew that he wasn't joking. Man, that would've been a terrible joke, and that's coming from him. Argentina's not that type of guy anyway, he's too nice for that.

Cuba replayed the words in his mind, processing what Argentina just told him. Spies... Italian spies in Argentina's land... Oh shit.

Suddenly Argentina's urgent call made sense. While something like this concerned the boss just as it did any of them, he was in no mood to deal with politics right now. It'd make sense for Argentina to want to have someone to help him out investigating, but… Agh, the questions! Too many questions! It _burns!_

Cuba was no clown, despite what a good number of people might think from his usual behavior. When there's something serious going on, he didn't joke around or act rashly, especially when it came to his enemies. He knew how to use his head (most of the time, anyway). America even called even a genius this one time when he was in a really good mood! And right now, what Argentina just told him, it's pretty damn serious.

But spies? Seriously? Yeah, well, spies weren't exactly uncommon for a ragtag group of nations like them with tons of enemies. But spies now of all times? And Italian spies for that matter? So soon after the last World Meeting with the tensions on the rise? Italy couldn't be that cocky...

Was he looking for a way to provoke the boss? Was that it? Ah geez, he needed more information before he could form any conclusion.

"W-W-What?! Italian spies?!" Cuba shrilled, not even caring how high-pitched his voice sounded. "Now? So soon? Why? How? What do they want? What's Italy thinking sending them here after the World Meeting? Is he deliberately trying to provoke us and the boss? 'Cause if he is, then-"

Thankfully, Argentina shushed him before he could really start freaking out. "Max, please, calm down. We need to act rationally in a delicate situation such as this."

Cuba felt his face flush in embarrassment and he sank back into his chair. "Sorry, Santi… But still, _spies? _Now? So soon? Why? How? What do they want? What's Italy-"

"Maximo, you're repeating your previous words again." Argentina told him gently, and Cuba flushed again. Then the pale man sighed, "But si, these really are Italian spies. Believe me; I was just as alarmed and shocked as you were when I found out."

"Damn right you were. What the hell is Italy _doing?!_" Cuba wanted to punch something, maybe a certain Italian jackass. That'd be nice. "I know he's already crazy, but Dios mio, has that guy really lost all his marbles after all?"

"Looks like it, if his recent actions and heavier are any indication." Argentina carefully shook his head in dismay. "But Max, seriously, you have to calm down. Take a deep breath. We have to think _rationally_ about this."

"But Santi, what if there are spies in the boss's land too?" Cuba asked him worriedly. "What if there's some spies in my land, or in the other countries of the Alliance too?"

"I've already sent them a message explaining everything, except of course for Allen, but I'm planning on telling him tomorrow." Argentina assured him while hugged his stuffed ovenbird to his chest. "I'm sure they can track down any possible spies easily. And Allen, he needs time to-"

Cuba narrowed his eyes. He didn't like interrupting people, but dammit, he didn't like this. "But this concerns the boss too, Santiago! We _can't_ just lock him out of the loop like this. And you know how pissed off he'll be when he finds out that-"

"…Which is why I've alerted the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, CIA, among others of the possible threat," Argentina told him calmly. "Along with making them promise that they won't tell Allen of what happened until tomorrow unless something grave happens. It's only one day, Max. I don't like keeping this a secret from Allen either, but you know he needs rest. But the humans will work on it in the meantime. Does that make you feel more reassured?"

Actually, yeah, that did make him feel less worried. Cuba frowned as Argentina lowered his head again. Oh, he should've known that Argentina wouldn't keep something like this a secret for no good reason, and the sweet guy wouldn't just sit around and risk letting the secret jeopardize the boss's safety.

"Si, that does make things better. " "I'm… I'm sorry, Santiago. I didn't mean to snap at you. I should've known that you'd be better than… Man, I feel so stupid…"

Argentina's head snapped back up, alarm in his visible eye. "No, don't say that. I'm not upset or anything. You have a right to be at least a little angry at me for keeping this from Al. But everything's fine, Max. I'm sure everything will be alright."

Cuba reluctantly nodded, "Yeah… hopefully…"

"So... why did you tell me to come over here then? You could've easily told me all this over the phone." Cuba asked curiously, and to light up the mood a little, he grinned and cracked his knuckles. "What, you need some help beating the truth outta some Italian spies or something?"

"Actually, si, I would. I called you because… Well, I would really appreciate it if you helped out on the investigation." Argentina asked shyly, absentmindedly playing with his ovenbird plush again. "I would like someone to help me, give me advice. I… I don't really trust myself to handle these types of situations…"

Sensing the self-deprecation in Argentina's tone, Cuba wasn't having any of it. "Hey, hey, don't feel bad for asking for help. Ain't nothing wrong with being a nice guy and being careful. I'll totally help you out!"

Argentina looked at him hopefully. "You will?"

Cuba flashed another grin. "Of course! So, what do we know so far about these guys?"

"I told you, they are still in the process of being questioned. They haven't cracked enough to tell us why they're here." Argentina reminded him grimly. "So it'll be a while before we get any more information."

"Of course they haven't," Cuba grumbled. Damn North Italians. Why did they have to be so scared of that bastard that they won't help the people who could get rid of him? "Are they tough? If they are, then how tough?"

"Well, they are quite stubborn from what I was told." Then Argentina's tone became sorrowful again, and the brown-haired man tensed. "I… I'll admit that one of my people suggested that I go _berserk_ on the North Italians to possibly terrify them into confessing all their secrets, but…"

Cuba's eyes widened. "What? They did? Those _pendejos_ have got some nerve! Don't they know that-"

"Si, I know. My insanity is not a weapon, nor should it be used as one." Argentina nodded in agreement, sounding _pained_. "I… I'd never do… not unless there wasn't any other choice. B-Besides, I'd likely kill them before they'd even get a chance to surrender. And he was quickly shot down by other humans present."

"Good." Cuba sighed in relief. Humans. Sometimes they really don't know what they're messing with. "So, you want to head over to the place now?"

"Well, there's no telling what North Italy could be planning. For all we know, it's something very dire, and it probably is considering his recent behavior. So I would say 'si', if you don't have an issue with it."

"No problem here, Santi. Let's crack some Italians." Cuba cracked his knuckles again, and he smiled at Argentina "Don't worry, Santi. Once they feel the wrath _El Máximo_, they'll be begging for mercy!

"Oh, I don't doubt _that_…" Argentina said, to Cuba's delight, until he heard what the guy said next. "…especially when you'll start bursting into song and dance."

"Hey, what's wrong with my angelic voice and sick dance moves?!"

"I'm sorry, but they leave a lot to be desired."

**Phew! Now that the whole Allen and Hungary thing is over and done with, I can finally move on to other stuff and I can further progress the plot. Oh, and there'll be more POVs next chapter, mostly to introduce more 2Ps as well as plot points. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review if you have a minute.**


	12. The End Till Next Week

**Thanks to FGO, NadiaJA627 and a guest for reviewing. Haha, sorry for the late update... I got some writer's block and I ended up getting a lot busier with real life stuff than I thought I'd be. Oh, and then I got kinda sick and... 'sigh' I wish I could've posted this sooner. I hope the longer chapter makes for it. Now, on with the show!**

_(Deltarune OST: Friendship)_

America just couldn't get the big smile off his face.

After the three of them got busted by Allen, America took the opportunity to nearly tackle Allen with a good ol' bear hug. Yeah, yeah, his buddy was squirming, probably getting slowly suffocating and his ribs were cracking, but America's just so proud of Allen that he just couldn't help himself. The blonde was so over the moon happy that he could just die.

Ah, of course, he's not gonna leave out Hungary, out of the hug, so he reached out his buddy and pulled her into the now group hug. Even it couldn't have been easy for Al, it was probably even harder for Hungary to accept Allen, but she did even after he snapped at her like that. Man, that wasn't cool, and America was totally going to grill his red-headed clone for it later, but let's just enjoy the moment.

"O-Oh, alright…" Hungary blinked when was pulled into the hug, but America was a little puzzled why his girl buddy's face was turning red. "Gah! Wow, I know you're probably tired of hearing, but you really are incredibly strong!"

"Not shit, Sherlock!" Allen exclaimed.

"Aw, I'm so happy for you two!" America squealed in delight, too happy to have been paying any attention to what his buddies were saying. Yeah, it's kinda dumb of him, but he's glad that things turned out well.

"Hey, hey, Al, don't get all 'proud mom' on me, man." Allen grumbled as he struggled to escape America's super-awesome-powerful grip. "I'm not marryingthe damn lady. We've just reached a semi-understanding-!"

"A semi-understanding? Well, I can't believe you're still this stubborn." Hungary snorted, believing him as much as others did. "You've smiled at me at least five times, and you even laughed. Also, you didn't insult me… for the most part. Is that something you do with someone you've reached a semi-understanding with?"

Aw, Allen was blushing! "Ngh…"

Beaming, Alfred hugged him even tighter until he decided to let them go. "Oh, call it whatever you want, Allen. I know as your bestie for life that deep down, you starting to like her."

"No, Al, I'm telling you that… Oh, what the hell? Who am I kidding?" Allen rolled his eyes, smiling sardonically. "Fine, I guess we're now on the long, hard journey of becoming friends."

Feeling himself being filled with joy, America from ear to ear and picked up Allen in another big hug. "YAY! HE ADMITS IT!

"HEY, WATCH THE BONES, AL! WE'RE NOT REENACTING THE BANE SCENE FROM THE DARK KNIGHT RISES!"

America just laughed, but eventually did give him a break and let him down, allowing his redheaded buddy to breathe. It's the least he could do for finally befriending Hungary.

…Except Allen's freedom was short-lived.

"Oh, Allen, _mi bambino_, I'm so proud of you!" Flavio sang as he wrapped his arms around an annoyed Allen, who was scowling like a big fluffy cat America once owned. "You actually managed to be a somewhat decent person around Miss Elizaveta, although I must say your little outburst earlier was much uncalled for."

Allen's eye twitched, but he smirked anyways.. "Yeah, yeah, don't mention it. Now get your hands off me, Flavio. You win… again."

"Why of course I did!" Flavio grinned. "My plans always work!"

"You did good, Allen." Gillen smiled and clapped Allen on the shoulder. "You may have acted stubborn and insensitive at first, but in the end you did the right and mature thing. And for that, I'm proud of you."

Allen sputtered. And America couldn't help but chuckle at how his dopplergangster's face was turning as red as his hair. "I-I… Well… J-Jeez, you're making me sound like I can't be mature or something."

"Wrong. You are completely capable of being mature, but you are at times held back by stubbornness and pride." Gillen told him earnestly. "What I meant to say is that I know how difficult it can be for you to overcome those troubling aspects of yourself as well as your overprotectiveness and paranoia, so it warms my heart to see that you've overcome it somewhat."

Allen awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Well… I-I… Thanks, Gil…"

While Allen's over there getting all cutely embarrassed, America realized that he's yet to give credit to his new gal pal. So, he turned around to Hungary, who's still red in the face for some reason (the AC was on, right?), and clapped her on the back with the biggest smile he could muster. He's genuinely thankful for what she did. He's thankful to both of them.

"Hey, hey, I haven't forgotten about you, dude." America turned his smile toward Hungary. "I really appreciate that you... you know... I know it couldn't have been..."

"It kind of wasn't." Hungary smile looked more dazzling than usual. "But he's actually kind of charming in an awkward sort of way when he's not scowling at you.

"Yeah, he's" America flashed a grin before he realized something, and he frowned as he shifted uncomfortably. I'm… I'm sorry about the way he blew up at you at the beginning though. You didn't deserve that. I think we should've- I think I should've done more to-"

"Alfred, what the hell have I told you about blaming yourself again?" Hungary's eye twitched and she smacked him on the shoulder. Didn't hurt though. "It's all right now. Sure, it wasn't pleasant at first, and… it was a bit more painful than I would've liked, but everything turned out all right in the end, no?

"Ah, that's right. Forgive us, we also have you to thank as well." Gillen smiled at Hungary and then nodded his head. "Now, we know it must've been easy giving Allen here a chance, after all the things he's said to you. I apologize if he has hurt you in any way."

"Hey! I'm right here you know!" Allen exclaimed from the side. "But yeah, I…"

"It's… all right," Hungary just smiled and waved it off. "I know Allen is very brutish, vulgar, extremely distrustful, rude..."

"Gee, thanks…" Allen muttered, but Flavio nudged him.

"Calm down, Al. You've grilling on her since she got here, dude." America told him. "Least you can do is put up with a little bit of trash talking."

"Doesn't mean I gotta like it."

"But I found that underneath that veneer of rudeness and anger and his scowl… is a _frown_." Hungary said with a pretty smile, and America saw a sort of mischievous glint in her eyes. Wow, Allen did notlook happy at that. "And underneath that frown and thousands of leagues sea of pent-up rage and hate… is a grimace."

Well... she's not exactly wrong. Sure, Liz here was kind of exaggerating a little. Allen could be a real sweetheart once he likes you enough to let his guard down.

"However, if you keep chipping and chipping, and chipping and chipping without ever giving up on him…" Hungary made a gesture describing said chipping while grinning straight at Allen. Aw, look at her. She's already smiling at him like they're true pals! "There's an admittedly intimidating snarl."

"Oh good. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks it looks a little frightening." Flavio said happily.

"Flavio..." Gillen sighed for the thousandth time today.

"Please just get on with it." Allen growled out through his teeth.

"…And then, with just a little more chipping, _and maybe a drill_, underneath that…" Hungary's smile became prettier- warmer! That's what he meant. "You'll find a genuine, kind smile. And not only that, but there's a man who although has serious trouble expressing himself properly, is ultimately a well-meaning nation who's willing to do everything in his power to protect the people he loves, especially his counterpart. There's a man who is a true friend to the ones he cares about. And I hope we can somehow become friends, or at least get along."

Man. The room got so quiet you could hear the crickets chirping. He should totally remind Allen call an exterminator later. But come on, who cares about that right now?

America beamed. But the best part was the look on the cake was the look on his doubleginger's face. Aw, he knew that look. That's the look of someone's cold heart thawing~

"That's…" Gillen looked pleasantly surprised. "That's actually quite nice of you to say, Elizaveta. Allen?

"Huh…? Oh... Um..." Allen blinked and fumbled over his words. Guess he wasn't expecting to hear that. "…_thanks_… Betsy…"

Aw, America loved when everything worked out in the end. If only it could happen more often…

"Well!" Flavio happily clapped his hands, gaining everyone's attention. "This turned out as well as I had predicted. Now, I believe we have a pizza that's getting cold…"

"About damn time!" Allen exclaimed quickly, eager to get over this whole thing as quickly as possible. Classic Allen. He started walking briskly away. "I'm fucking starving here…"

But Flavio held him back by the arm. "Hold on, Allen. I think you're forgetting something important."

"What do you mean? I gave you the fifteen bucks, didn't I?"

"Oh no, not that, Allen." Flavio patted his back, smiling encouragingly. "I think it's time you've apologized to Miss Hungary here for your rude behavior and for that little outburst you had."

Allen looked kinda lost there. Yeah, America couldn't really blame him. He had so many 'outbursts' that it gets hard to keep track of them. Flavio sighed, muttering something about little brothers, before putting on a slightly tight smile and trying again.

"Oh my- Your little not-so-pleasant to Miss Elizaveta early in your bonding time? Remember that?" Flavio asked pointedly, jabbing a finger into Allen's chest. "I'm sure every inhabitant of this building heard it too."

Allen's eyes widened, and he glanced at Hungary before his shoulders slumped. "Oh… _That_…"

Flavio smiled knowingly, that usual mischievous glint appearing in eyes. "I believe you know what to do from the many lessons in good manners I've given you throughout the years. Of course, if you don't recall them, I'd be more than happy to-"

"Okay, okay, I'm on it!" Allen shouted before stomping his towards a waiting Hungary with her arms crossed over her chest. He then wringed his hands, scowling at the floor, and mumbled, "So… Betsy…"

"Yes?" Hungary smiled hopefully.

"I'm… sorry for blowing up on ya earlier, Betsy." Allen said in a clearer voice, and he had the decency to look at Hungary in eye for more than three seconds before averting them and rubbing the back of his neck. "You don't deserve to be treated like shit just because the rest of your world is shit."

America smiled and went over to nudge him on the shoulder. "And?"

"And… I shouldn't have been a jackass and treated you like shit." Allen continued sheepishly, his face turning red from embarrassment. "And maybe… who knows? Maybe your buddies like Poland aren't as half bad as I think they are… But that could be bullshit for all I know."

"And?" America was full-blown grinning now.

"And… I hope you can forgive me and that we can try to be buddy-buddy more in the future." Allen finished awkwardly before glaring menacingly at Hungary. "…Unless I see ya doin' shady stuff, in which case you're going down, down, down-"

"Yes, yes, you'd already made that painfully clear." Hungary smiled tightly, but it quickly relaxed into a more genuine one. "And since it looks like you really mean what you say, then I guess I'll forgive you…"

Allen sighed in relief. "Oh, thank fucking goodness…"

"…on _one_ condition."

"Ugh, this again?!" Allen growled, but then he let out a defeated sigh with a flat look. "But fine, I'll do it. So, what do you want me to do? Do a pole dance? Make me butcher an innocent deer and then eat it? Or do you hit me with that frying pan of yours until my head flies right off?"

America couldn't help but laugh awkwardly while Flavio and Gillen lowered their heads. Yeah, it's a habit in these kinds of weird situations. Aw, Allen, always assuming the worst no matter what… Now that's one thing they're complete opposites in.

"By God, what on Earth do you take me for?!" Hungary exclaimed in horror. "I was just going to say that you'll try to leave this whole 'Lightners are bastards' things behind us and see me as my own person!

Allen stared at her, puzzled. "Wait, so that's all you want?"

"Yes! God, you're so negative…"

In response, Allen glared at her. "Well, we can't all be living balls of sunshine, Betsy."

"Oh, whatever. Do you accept the condition?"

"I will, damn you!" Allen barked, and he cringed when Flavio gave him the disappointed parent look. "But fine, if this'll help you forgive me for being so shitty to you… then I guess I promise that I'll do my best to do… what you said."

Hungary raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah, really. Just don't expect to do a heel-face turn right away." Allen warned before turning to the others. "Now, can we _please_ just go eat the pizza already before I lose it?"

And with that, most of the drama was wrapped up with a positive note for once in their lives. America couldn't be gladder that things turned out for the best. But before they could on go with America's plan on, he pulled Allen over for a brief talk.

"You did good, you know that?" America whispered to him gratefully.

"Thank Washington. I don't need another screw-up on my damn guilty conscience." Allen chuckled, letting a more genuine, awkward smile show up on his face for once. "But thanks, Al. I… I guess… I'm also glad that you're so over the fucking moon over this and..."

"That you made friends with Liz?" America smiled knowingly.

Allen snorted, and looked to the side, probably not wanting America to see his blush or something. "Hm, I guess… She's pretty spunky, you know. Kind of reminds me of Erszi, in a way…"

"Well, technically, they are the same gal." America reminded him. "But yeah, she's a pretty great lady, ain't she?"

"Maybe…" Allen muttered, and then gave America his good ol' scowl. "Just promise me that this'll be the first and _last_ time you and Flavio do something like this. If you do, I'll force ya to watch the Batman & Robin movie next time you come to visit."

Sweet Jesus, not the bat credit card! America paled. "Okay, okay! I promise! Geez…"

Allen smirked wryly. "You're _so_ gonna break that promise."

"Am not!" America huffed.

They both glared childishly at each other for a few seconds before they cracked a grin and laughed. Boy, it was great to be with Allen again.

"Come on, let's go and have loads of fun, Red! I wanna tell Liz about all the fun times we had together!" America wrapped an arm around him as they went to the dining room "I dunno where to start… Ooh, how about we tell her about the time you turned yourself into a chick?"

Allen gave a smug smirk at the idea. "I did have tits that gave Dolly Parton a run for her money…"

"Oh-Oh! How about that whole New York Fashion Week fiasco? That was a lot of fun!"

"Erszi did end up stealing the show with that awesome dress of hers." Allen said fondly, smiling more sweetly this time. Aw, he looked adorable!

"Oh! And how about that time you and Turkey almost got-"

"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE, AL!"

/ / / / /

_(Epic Arabian Music | Desert Night)_

In a small house near the outskirts of a buzzing city, a bespectacled young man with messy black hair dressed in simple clothing was feeling rather frustrated.

His appearance was normal enough, but the utter disdain in his lifeless amber eyes gave him away as the aloof personification of Bahrain.

He was pacing back and forth in his room, a frightening glint in his eyes, and quietly growling to nothing in particular except for the insolent worms (AKA the human spies from Italy in case your meager intelligence forbade you from realizing the _obvious_) who were probably prowling his country, thinking that they would be safe from _him_.

He, who could immediately ensnare them the moment they touched his skin. He, who did not hesitate to punish any human who dared bite the hand that fed them or believed that they could deceive him. He, who loyally served the glorious personification who could easily throw them all into the fire. He, who did not tolerate any security breaches or threats to his nation despite his disdain for humans.

Well, there's obviously more to it than that than just pride and such. Bahrain wasn't blind. He was no fool.

Granted, while he still didn't know for sure if there were any spies like there were in Argentina, the prospect that that Italian asshat could think so highly of himself that he thought he could send his humans to Bahrain to gather intelligence and have them leave _alive_.

Did Italy finally go off the deep end after all? If his behavior at the meeting didn't prove it, then this certainly would. While Italy was arrogant to an infuriating degree (and this was coming from someone who _looked_ _down_ on humans too), he wasn't stupid. True, insanity could lead to making some terribly idiotic decisions and actions, but still.

There was obviously a much more logical explanation for this that Bahrain wasn't seeing. He needed to think clearly, meditate on this. It won't do him good if he kept seething. He'll just end up thirsty again. He immediately stopped pacing and inhaled sharply.

While humans were undoubtedly troublesome rats, Bahrain will admit, albeit with incredible difficulty and pain, that his care for his people wasn't… solely out of self-preservation. There were those who were competent and actually possessed strong loyalty without any fear of getting devoured, so it'd be a shame to see them go. But that's all there was. There's also what remained of his sense of justice,

Although his humans were quite a decent lot compared to the fanatical dullards littering the lands of Pakistan and the dull and boring cardboard cutouts from Qatar. He wasn't sure if his sanity could survive being forced to live and care for millions of people as unimpressive as his _sister_. Bahrain shuddered at the thought.

So, he did 'appreciate' (if that was the word to describe it) his people for actually being grateful and not being (completely) like his sister.

Ah, but he's going off-topic here. What Bahrain was trying to get at here was that he didn't like this, but not solely for the obvious reasons that he stated above. Something was very wrong, if there were spies lurking the country after all. His instincts were screaming at him

He had sent out his men to conduct a search, but Bahrain wasn't going to sit around twiddling his thumbs and let them do all the work. This was someth

He was born, _reborn_, to **devour**. He was rebuilt to _feed_, to serve and to _persevere_, just as Kuwait was rebuilt to be _unbreakable_. Bahrain will not fail in his task. He will find the… foreign humans, if there any wandering about in his land. He will find them, consume them, he will relish the rich, metallic taste of its blood, and he will enjoy feeling them struggle and flail uselessly inside of his body, slowly dying away…

Well, he was free to do all that once he interrogated them thoroughly. If these were the types of humans who were frustratingly stubborn, then Bahrain was sure that a quick trip in the inescapable prison that was his body would be more than enough to break their will.

Although, in spite of his hopes that he'll find prey, he couldn't help but wonder what the North Italian blood sacks would be doing snooping in his country. It's not like Bahrain had many things that would be of value to that foolish European. And any important information were completely kept secret thanks to a few spells that big brother cast.

And what few things Bahrain did consider to be of high value enough to be sought after, he did not think Italy would have any knowledge of them.

Still, he will have to discuss later with brother.

/ / / / /

_(Kimono Girls - Pokemon GSC/HGSS (Teion Remix))_

A pale girl with jet-black hair, with a wild curly strand sticking out from the right side of her head, angrily stared at her own reflection in a mirror of her old vanity table.

Her magenta-colored eyes were narrowed, but occasionally one of them twitched as a result of her incessant frustration of something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Why the hell are you in my mind all of a sudden?" She asked to no one in particular, except for maybe the mirror itself and her own reflection. She preferred to think that this damn mirror was actually an animate being responsible for doing something sucky to her; it at least made her feel less stupid and crazy.

Wasn't it always easier to blame someone? Sure, it could be a very cruddy move, but Taiwan was sure that there had to be someone out there was to blame for her compelling her to come here to her old vanity table and remember the worst memory she ever had while adorning her hair in front of that thing.

"I was a hell lot happy forgetting that you ever existed," Taiwan spat at it, watching her own reflection glare at her in disgust. "And that I got decapitated and… and then…"

She stiffened, but then she shook her head profusely. No, no, bad Taiwan! Don't waste your precious valuable time thinking about bad times.

"So why did I feel so compelled to look at you all of a sudden?" Taiwan asked to anyone she hoped was out there watching her and could help her. "Why… did I suddenly get a bad feeling about this thing?"

Who the hell knows, her mind answered to her in the same snarky voice she so often used. The only reason why she bothered to drop the game she was playing on her console was because she figured that she's never going to stop thinking about it unless she just went there. She just felt that she had to do it,

"Ugh, I'm such a loser, talking to a _mirror_. I'm too young to lose my marbles." Taiwan grumbled under her breath, feeling like kicking something.

A part of her also figured that, hey, maybe you should trust your instincts on this, Taiwan! You need to go visit an old bad memory so you could maybe confront it or something. You're not getting any alarm bells, so it's not like you're going to get another Canada incident.

Taiwan never really got any of that corny 'trust your instincts/heart' junk from anyone, not even from China. He was all about calmness, becoming emotionally detached (not that anyone in the 'family really followed that part, except for maybe Japan), superiority, power, all that condescending stuff. That bastard even said that following one's heart or instincts was a foolish. One lived and succeeded by using their mind and brawn, with one only following their instincts when in combat, but nothing else.

And… she could see why. You shouldn't override your brain cells and intuition by 'following your heart'. That's just stupid. You know old ladies were going senile if they say that absolutely EVERYTHING will turn out honky-dory if you just follow your heart no matter what the smart part of your brain tells you.

But that didn't always mean you're doomed to fail miserably by following your heart.

Taiwan knew this more than most people. It was by following her heart that triggered the chain of events that led to her defection. It was her instincts that led her to leave him and join the good guys, to turn over a new leaf, to seek happiness in life. She was wary, but deep down she knew that _China's_ enemies could give her the home she never had.

And what's more, she even found true love! Sure, it's a work in progress, but it's still a wonderful thing to discover.

"But even all that in mind… WHY THE HELL DO I SUDDENLY FEEL THE NEED TO DO THIS?!" Taiwan screeched to no one. Yep, she'd definitely not losing her marbles. "Why do I feel that something happened that's related to this thing?! Why am I even still here? I'm even putting off some of the stuff of my agenda to sulk around you…

Her agenda…

Wait, wasn't she supposed to check up with her men on the whole search for the Italian spies who, for all she knew, were lurking about in her proud, beautiful, amazing country?

Taiwan squeaked, and she facepalmed herself _hard_.

Oh, goddamit! How the hell could she forget something so important like that! She was wallowing in self-pity so much that she's neglecting to take care of a serious problem! Grr, get a fucking grip, Taiwan! This was _not_ the time to think about the bad parts of your past!

Groaning loudly at the top of her lungs, Taiwan scowled and kicked the wall as hard as she could, causing some old chairs to fall, but she sure as hell didn't care. She shot the mirror one last scowl before stomping out of her basement. She had a lot of better stuff to do than to waste time thinking about that jerk. She should spend time thinking about his much more appealing twin brother… and the whole spy thing.

The thought of the red-headed, hot-headed true love immediately helped brighten up her mood.

No, no, come on, focus, Taiwan. Focus on dealing with possible security breach now and fantasize about America later! Think, he wouldn't be happy knowing that she's neglecting her duties, would he?

No, he wouldn't. He'd want Taiwan to get out there, track down any spies and beat the crap outta them!

"Just you wait, you Italian rodents! When I get a hold of you bastards, I'll clock you all right into the next realm!" Taiwan shook her fist angrily, before something occurred to her. "That is, if you really _are_ in my country… But _if_ you are, prepare yourselves to experience the worst beating of your lives!"

Yeah, she'll kick them right in the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

…The Leaning Tower of Pisa's located in Northern Italy, right?

Oh, whatever! She had _work_ to do.

/ / / / /

_(Japanese Fantasy Music - Honō no Megami)_

Sometimes being the tyrannical leader of his nation could be quite dull when there was no one to torment for the moment.

The red-eyed Asian leaned his head on his cheek while he stared off in boredom from his office while brandishing his katana.

Ah, no, don't get him wrong. He loved having power and order at last after years of annoyances. But there were times where Japan missed the days when those worthless humans had that disgusting thing called 'hope'. He always had more things to do during that time. Nowadays they'll either live in despair or try to make the most of things, but very rarely attempt to rebel.

While he was extremely pleased that those lower beings have learned their lesson for the most part, that they now know not to act ungrateful when they're lucky that they haven't been starved to near death (at least not since the nineties), and that the propaganda was even working, Japan will grudgingly admit that he missed crushing the hopes of his people.

What's more, every time the rebels inevitably lost, the people would fall further into despair, therefore solidifying Japan's control over his nation even further. It was a win-win situation, as the Westerners say.

Hmm, but at least today wasn't boring. No, he'd even say he's feeling quite happy today.

Italy had called him again earlier today, wanting to discuss a few things, and Japan was more than pleased to hear that that mad European wasn't in such a snappy mood again. He was even sort of polite. Maybe Italy finally had a good night's sleep. Whatever the case, Japan didn't care in the slightest. It's already grating working with the man, the least Italy could do was have good manners.

While Italy was annoying, although Japan could say for certain that the feeling was mutual, he did know what he's doing despite what many people might believe. Japan wouldn't spend so many years being this man's ally if he was a bratty, cowardly, overly arrogant and stupid man.

Well, alright, his personality could be quite grating and extremely annoying, but Japan was willing to forgive all that and not decapitate him because he's interesting. His past, his goals, his cleverness, it's all interesting.

Oh, but Japan's not just in it for the ride. He's going to make sure he'll get _something_ of value out of this strange but fascinating plan Italy told him about. They had a deal. While Italy will get to enjoy the stress of ruling the world populated by idiots and human trash, Japan will be left to his devices ruling all over East Asia, tormenting the foolish members of his 'family'.

Fortunately, as power-hungry Italy as the rest of them, not even _he_ was willing to spend eternity managing the living migraine-inducing embodiment of a pain in the ass that was _Taiwan_.

Why must a beautiful girl with such an impressive figure be so annoying? She was hardly even annoying back when she was loyal to China. No, she was much more ideal then. Honestly, that damn America's uncouthness was infectious. Well, Japan will have a lot of work to do when he finally had her in his clutches.

…But he's straying too far from the main-topic, please forgive him for that. Speaking of _the plan_, that very same thing was the subject the two of them spent the majority of their conversation speaking about. The European had finally decided that it was time to begin the so called 'great plan'.

Italy didn't exactly fill Japan in on all the details, but he did share enough to pique the latter's interest and revealed a few more details over time. But from what Japan did know, it's going to be quite the adventure.

But one thing Japan just failed to understand, or rather, failed to convince Italy the futility of, was how the fuck was that guy going to convince his brother to side with them?

/ / / / /

_(Deltarune OST: Hip Shop)_

The little get-together was pretty fun.

And all the stories Gillen told her, they ranged from hilarious to borderline bizarre Who would've thought that Allen was once transformed into a girl by Haiti, and fought alongside Saudi Arabia disguised as a teenager during a war? Who would've thought Gillen and Austria almost got married?

She's not going to lie. If it weren't for the fact that Gillen seemed to truly hate Dark World Austria's guts and scowled at the mention of him, she totally would've squealed at the mental images it conjured up in her not-so-pure mind.

But all good things must come to an end. And as much as Hungary had fun, both she and America had a home to get to.

Gillen had actually managed to prevent Allen and America from starting another racing competition on the way back to the UN Headquarters (or _Trinity Alliance Headquarters_ as Allen angrily corrected her, but it's a bit of mouthful, so…), but it still didn't stop the blonde cowboy from driving the motorcycle like a maniac… and Hungary loved every minute of it.

And when they arrived, the three oddball nations (yes, she's aware that's _rich_ coming from her), went out of their way to show her around the building some more, telling more about the building's history along the way. Apparently the Trinity Alliance was a group of 'good guy' or 'not so bad guy' nations whose main mission was to strengthen the power of the non-evil nations, find a way to overthrow and defeat their enemies, and prevent all-out war from happening, among other things.

In other words, the UN but they're actually competent and effectual.

Hungary had actually garnered confused or shocked looks from the three when she

"This is it." America announced as he walked up to the door leading to the Dark World's version of the supply closet. "This is our way back home, Liz, the same place we used to come to the Dark World. 'Course, there's other options, but this is the way we need to go."

Hungary stared off into the Dark World's UN Head quarter's supply closet portal thing (Wow. That was a mouthful) and she felt a chill go down her spine. Just like before, when America first opened the door of the supply closet of their world, there was nothing visible in the room but pure darkness.

What's more, Hungary couldn't help but pale and take a wary step back when she had once again witnessed the pitch black room cast a long shadow and the hallway's lights go out. Oh, goodness, was that dramatic effect really necessary? It wasn't helping with her nerves. Well, yes, it's not like nothing _bad_ was going to happen, but it's still far from pleasant. She definitely needed to later ask America what's with the whole darkness thing.

She shuddered "Please tell me we won't have to fall into endless darkness and fall unconscious again."

America smiled at her reassuringly and waved his hand. "Aw, no, no, no, that's only in the trip _to_ the Dark World. The trip to the Light World is totally different. No falling and unconsciousness involved, promise."

"Different _how_, exactly?" Hungary asked uneasily, despite America's reassurances. "Will we have to be swallowed up by a monster or something?"

America laughed, and Hungary weakly laughed along with him. "Of course not, Betsy! From my previous awesome experiences with my buddy Tony, all we have to do is run into the closet together. We'll run and run until we black out for about a second or two, and we'll be right back in the Light World."

Hungary perked up considerably at that. "Oh… really? That's good then."

"Yup. So let's say our last goodbyes, then." America told her, and he turned around to face the Dark World nations. "Hey, guys, thanks so much for helping us have a great time."

"It was our pleasure, Alfredo." Flavio said proudly, with a smile that Hungary still couldn't get used to seeing on Romano's face. "Oh, we had so much fun with you and Miss Elizaveta.

"You know you're welcome here anytime, man," Allen smiled in a manner too similar to America's, but it then turned into a smirked when he glanced at Hungary. "Even Betsy over there."

"Ja, you are both welcome here." Gillen stated with a smile that made Hungary want to giggle madly, nodding. "I hope that despite our current circumstances, we can all meet each other again soon."

With that, Gillen looked straight at her.

"Elizaveta, I… I'm glad to have met you, today." Gillen began awkwardly, but in such in an adorable way with such an adorkable smile that Hungary inwardly squealed. "It was… quite pleasant and interesting, to say the least. I hope we can continue to become good friends, and to see each other as their person."

"I feel the same way, Gillen." Hungary smiled back at him. And when he reached out his hand, she took it. "We should have another one of our talks next time we come here. I still need to finish that story about how God ordered me to hit France with a frying pan, remember?"

Gillen's smile twitched. "J-Ja… Quite right…"

Her next goodbye was to Flavio, who was beaming as always. "Oh, it's been very fun with you, Miss Elizaveta. I'm glad you've forgiven me over that whole leaving you and Allen in the kitchen thing, but everything turned out for the best! Why, I'd say you're as charming as Erszi herself!"

Hungary giggled. "Oh, thank you, Flavio."

"I'll be certainly looking forward for when you two meet. Oh, and there's still so much the four of us can do together…" Flavio sighed happily, until he suddenly brightened and snapped his fingers. "Ooh! And I'll be sure to provide you with all sorts of fashion tips and ideas for new clothes the next time you pop by-"

"Yes, yes. Goodbye, Flavio!" Hungary quickly said before leaving to talk with the last person she needed to say goodbye to. Because if she heard one more comment about her clothes…!

Surprise surprise, Allen was standing there with his arms crossed and a slightly grumpy look on his face.

"So…" Hungary started awkwardly, fiddling with her fingers. "I guess this is goodbye."

"Yeah, it is…" Allen said gruffly, and he quietly stared at her with an unreadable expression (which was a little creepy), before he scowled and looked to the side. "You know, it fucking pains me to say this, but I envy you, Betsy."

Hungary was taken aback by this. "W-Why is that?"

"'Cause you get to go back to the Light World with him, duh." Allen rolled his eyes, but he frowned. "We Darkners can't, remember? The mirrors are all I have. But the others…"

Hungary felt a little stupid for not realizing that earlier, and she cast her eyes to the floor, biting her lip. "Oh."

"Yeah, '_oh'_." Allen snapped bitterly, and he grabbed at his red hair. "I- We don't even know _why_ Al's the only one who can past the barrier, or why he can only bring someone from the Light World. I-I've _tried_ to go with him so many damn times but I…"

Allen trembled, gritting his teeth, and for a moment Hungary was concerned that he might last out. But after a few moments, he calmed down and lowered his hands, sighing.

"I just… end up crashing into a wall… Right after Al vanishes from my sight."

Hungary frowned and wanted to try to comfort him, but then she figured that Allen wouldn't want _pity_, so she went another route. "Oh… Well, that _is_ a shame. But hey, what matters is that you can meet him with the mirrors and when he comes back, right? At least Alfred can come here whenever he wants."

To her relief, it did seem to help him a little. Allen's expression softened somewhat. "Yeah, I guess… I am grateful for that. But still, how cool would it be, strolling right into the your damn meeting room and showing everyone's who's boss? How cool would it be, to beat up Al's enemies? How cool would it be, to see Dad's…"

Allen's eyes suddenly widened as he stopped himself, and then he relaxed. Hungary wondered what he was going to say.

"But I guess I shouldn't be so damn ungrateful." Allen chuckled quietly. "Life isn't fair. I should be happy with what I've got."

Allen was quiet for a while, and Hungary was still thinking about what to say. She's still trying to get used to not expecting to get snarky comments from him every five minutes.

"Hey…" Allen suddenly spoke again. "Since you're gonna be visiting from now on too, then can I ask you to do a favor for this badass piece of shit, Betsy? For Alfred too?"

Hungary gave him a warm smile, hoping it'll help. "I think I can. What do you want?"

"_Be there_ for him, Betsy." Allen ordered her. With a softness in his voice that Hungary hadn't heard before. "If you really do understand him and want to support him, be there for him when I can't. You already proved yourself by standing up to your world's shitty ways, so now go, be there for each other, and try to build a better future for your nations together, aight?"

Wow… Allen… trusted her with doing that? Who was this man and what did he do to the real Allen?

But in all seriousness, Hungary did want that too. But their world was cruel, and America was the world superpower, so… Still, Hungary will do her best and stick by America, after everything's that happened today. She wanted to be better friends with him. If she could do it for Poland than she certainly she could do the same for America, right?

Hungary nodding, smiling confidently, "I will, I mean it."

"Good." Allen sighed in relief, but of course, he then glared at her. "But remember, I'm still keeping an eye on-"

"Alfred, I think it's time we go home now!"

The two of them were standing in front of the door. America had taken a sort of sprinting position, and Hungary decided to do the same. She took one last glance at her surroundings, and at the bright lights of New York City and the red sun of the Dark World.

"You ready, Liz?"

"If you are."

"Okie dokie. Then we're off!" America's eyes sparkled, and he looked back to give one last grin and wave goodbye at the Darkners. "See ya next time, guys!"

"_Arrivederci_, you two!" Flavio cried out. Goodness, he was actually crying. "Stay fabulous!

"Auf Wiedersehen. God bless you both!" Gillen declared, a bright smile on his face.

Last but not least, Allen gave them one last smirked, and flashed a thumbs-up. "Good luck with your shitty world, you guys! Remember to show the world who's boss!"

And with that, America sped off into the darkness, with Hungary following suit.

They ran, and ran…

Until…

/ / / / /

_(MLP Gypsy Bard Instrumental)_

Belarus let out a small huff at the mark on the window that just wouldn't vanish no matter how much she sprayed and wipe it. Oh, Mr. Mark-On-Window-That-Belarus-Hoped-To-God-Wasn't-A-Scratch, why did you have to be so stubborn today? She wanted the house to be spotless for Big Brother!

The blonde haired made a sound akin to a whimper or a whine, or maybe even a sob, and sprayed on the spot on the window where the mark was again, careful not to stain her favorite pink dress. Oh, she better not get it dirty. She had just washed it! And Russia liked seeing her in this dress.

Well, Russia actually said that it was that that dress wasn't as painful to look at as much of others, and even that's a softer version of what he actually said. B-But Belarus was sure that that's just Big Brother's own unique way of complementing her dress! He… He wasn't very good at socializing after all. O-Oh! But she'd never say that to him, no, never! It could break his poor heart… even if he literally kept in a box.

At least it appeared that Big Brother hadn't noticed that the house was only 99% spotless. B-B-But that's not excuse! She needed to clean off that mark (which hopefully wasn't scratching or anything that'll remain there permanently) no matter how long it'll take.

She just hoped Russia won't notice that she's been slacking off… a little. But fortunately for her, it looked like big brother was going to be secluded in his room more so than usual. Um, she didn't really know why though. He's been acting pretty pensive and apathetic lately (although unbeknownst to her, he's like this all the time…) since the last meeting.

…Could he be planning a way to get rid of Italy once and for all? Russia did have a habit of spending a really long time in his room thinking about how he could get rid of the people he doesn't like…

Oh. Will the General be involved in this? Will Belarus and Ukraine be involved in this? She didn't want to take part of an assassination. They're much messy, very mean, super rude, extremely wrong, and plenty evil and Russia won't let her buy a stealth outfit that's colored pink!

W-Well, this was all just mere speculation but still! It sounded likely… The Russia planning something super big and scary part.

Oh, dear. Poor Italy. Sure, he's a big meanie with a dirty mouth that almost rivaled Big Sister's, he's super rude and had made fun of Belarus in front of everyone more than once… but even so, she hoped big brother will go easy on him…

Although if Russia's planning to do something bad to Italy, why was he spending his time staring at a map of America?

/ / / / /

Going back to the Light World was… kind of weird, to be honest.

Then all of a sudden she completely blacked out. It was lasted for about… a few seconds? A minute or two? Hungary honestly couldn't tell.

But then, similar to a nasty surprise scare from a horror movie, except that it was only surprising but not terrifying, the darkness suddenly vanished from her vision and she found herself running through a dim-witted surprise closet. The shock was just as bad as you'd think it'd be.

Completely disoriented, Hungary gasped in surprise, staggered for a second before falling and crashing onto the smelly floor along with America.

Oh… Oh goodness, that was… that was just… a lot to take in.

"Did… Did we do it? Are we really back in our world?" Hungary drawled as she rubbed her eyes. "And just to be clear, everything that just happened did happen… right?"

God, she hoped it wasn't all a dream or a vivid hallucination caused by something Hungary must've drank earlier. That would just be too cruel. But it was too real to not be too.

"Yeah… Don't worry, Liz. It was all real." She heard America promise, and when she opened her eyes, she saw him standing up in front of her and smiling down. "And we're home."

Hungary chuckled a little in relief. "Perfect, perfect…

"Come on, let me help ya up, Lizzy." America smiled kindly and offered his hand. "Least I can do for the rough trip."

Blinking away the spots she was seeing, Hungary smiled back and grabbed America's then, then she let out an 'Oh!' when she was not-so-gently immediately pulled back up to her feet. Oh, she forgot about that monstrous strength of his.

She took the opportunity to get a better look of her surroundings, and she got a good whiff of the place too. Yep, they're definitely in the supply closet in the UN Headquarters in the World of Light. They're home.

"Is it _always_ like this when you come back?" Hungary asked, still feeling a little off.

"Hah… Only on the first few tries, Liz. It's something that needs some getting used to." America smiled weakly as he adjusted his glasses, which Hungary just noticed had vanished when they arrived at the Dark World. "Trust me, I'm feeling it too. Reminds me of my earliest trips…"

"I feel dizzy and… a little confused." But even with that, Hungary managed to not to stumble, and she rubbed her head.

"Yup, that's pretty how it feels like." America laughed a little tiredly, but he was still all smiles as always. "Then again, it's not like everyone's done inter-dimensional travel at some point, of course it's gonna feel super weird and stuff. Or maybe it's also because I'm not used to bringing another dude with me and back."

America's back to his usual appearance and attire again. Gone was his cowboy getup and surfer hair to be replaced by his normal shorter hair and uniform with his signature bomber jacket respectively. It's pretty bizarre…

Hungary, still feeling a little dizzy and in awe at everything that's transpired today, let out a breathless chuckle. Too bad, he _really_ looked handsome like that… although his normal look wasn't bad by any means. Oh, but she's definitely going to find a way to make him let his hair grow out one way or another…

Speaking of normal appearances, Hungary blinked and stared down at her hands then at her clothes. Naturally, she's back to the clothes she was wearing. Yup, she's back to wearing the old military uniform she was so fond of wearing at meetings along with her black gloves and boots. It's as if she never changed in the first place. To think that it was only a little while ago that she was wearing a funky version of her country's traditional dress…

Hungary had to laugh a little, although she wasn't sure if it's because she's still reeling from the portal thing or more likely because she's still so amazed with everything she's saw and discovered today. It all feels too good to be true…

She couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment at seeing her 'Dark World clothes' gone. Hungary really liked that dress, and the skirt, wow, the skirt was, as Poland would no doubt say, 'fabulous~'. Well, at least she'll get to wear it again when she came back for another visit.

Another visit…

"Oh, what a day!" Hungary sighed loudly, before deciding to laugh out of the pure joy in her heart, unknowingly leaning on America for support. "What. A. Day… Oh god, I can't believe what a crazy day I've had."

'"Cause it's probably one of the best days you've ever had?" America asked hopefully, blue eyes twinkling.

Hungary smirked and lightly nudged his shoulder. "Probably. Or maybe because I discovered that you have an alternate world in your supply closet filled with doppelgangers of us including but limited to a cussing, cranky version of you, a more pleasant but metrosexual version of Romano, and the best version of Prussia anyone could ever conceive. But yes, in the end, it was a pretty good day."

"You bet it was, Liz. It was awesome!" America beamed. "But hey, I told you, the supply closet's only the _portal_ to the Dark World. You know, like Narnia! It's just an entrance, the other world's is just that, another world.

"By the way, you still haven't explained how that whole thing came to be or how it works." Hungary crossed her arms while smiling at him expectantly.

"And I totally will, dude… _After_ I tell Artie to chillax and not chew me out for ditching the meeting." America grinned before taking out his phone his pocket, when he then winced. "'Cause if I'm not wrong, I think we spent a couple hours on the other side and missed the whole meeting. Also, I think we might've run some people over when we were chasing Kiwi and Aussie for their cuddly cute animals. But who cares about that?"

Hungary furrowed her brow in concern, feeling a bitter taste in her throat at the realization that she still had the EU to deal with. Not to mention that Poland will be wondering just where the hell did she up and disappear to.

She tried not to sigh. "Oh yes, I forgot about that. We pretty much skipped the rest of the meeting, didn't we?"

"Y-Yeah

"I meant it when I said that we really need to see each other more often, you know." Hungary told him earnestly, smiling.

America brightened up like the sun after he said that, and he nodded profusely. "I totally agree, dude. We should

"Problem is that my boss's one super strict guy. It's hard to convince him to give me a day off. And I've been busy with paperwork for weeks. It's part of the reason why I haven't visited the guys for a while."

Hungary felt a pang of d "I… I guess I have the same problem too, Alfred. My boss's been dealing with a couple issues and I think it'd be best if I'm there for him… He's been a little stressed out as of late."

America rubbed the back of his head, averting his eyes. "Yeah."

"So…" Hungary bit her lip.

"When do you think we can meet up?" America finished for her.

Hungary pondered on that for a moment, and when she opened her mouth to respond, she was unexpectedly cut off by her phone's ringtone. Nearly flinching, she hastily searched for it as she tried not to let the awkwardness bother her. Oh, she's forgotten she's had her phone with her. America told her that their phones didn't work in the Dark World, and Hungary remembered him mentioning that trying to call someone will only get you a 'super creepy static'

For a moment Hungary was scared that she lost it on the journey back here, but she was relieved when she found in her one of her pockets. But she was baffled when she saw the number on the screen. Why was her boss calling her?

As soon as that thought passed, her eyes widened when she heard rock music playing in her ears, and she glanced to see America .

Deciding on finding out what her boss wanted to talk about first, then ask America her questions later, Hungary put the phone and prayed to God that her boss didn't find out that she pretty much ditched the rest of the meeting… Oh, she's in so much trouble.

Still, Hungary cleared her throat, and spoke formally for her boss. "_Jó napot, _sir! How may I help you? Y-Yes, the meeting is over. But, ah… Um, if this is because of something the UK or Germany said, then I…"

Meanwhile, she also overheard America talking to his caller. "Yo, boss! How's it hanging? What I can do for ya?"

Good God, him too?!

"Oh, you have some important news for me? What is it? What's wrong?"

"Ooh, something important? Sure, lay it on me, boss."

Hungary listened to her boss's answer, and she could've sworn her job dropped to the ground. "Wait, what?"

"Say what?" America exclaimed?"

No way… They were really going to… This almost sounded too good to be true, but she couldn't help the smile slowly making its way to her face."R-Really? You're going to meet with him for a bilateral meeting next week? And I'll be going with you? A-Are you serious, sir?"

"Whoa, whoa, boss… Say _what_ now? You've been speaking with the guy and you're gonna meet him around one week from now? And I'll be there with ya?"

"Problem? No, no, no, there's no problem at all! I'm overjoyed at the news!" Hungary laughed in delight, not believing her luck." I-I've actually been planning on suggesting on strengthening our relations with the United States, but I'm very happy to see that you're one step ahead of me as always! Thank you so much, sir."

"What? Hell no! I don't get any problem with it! In fact, I was so gonna talk to you about getting closer with Hungary, but guess I should've known you were one step ahead of me. She's super nice, boss. I think strengthening relations will be totally worth it! I really don't how to thank you, boss. And here I was, worrying that I won't be able to see her anytime soon, haha!"

"Igen, of course I'm looking forward to it! I agree, we'll speak more of this when I come home to Budapest."

"Yeah. We'll talk this more when I get back to Washington.

"Again, thank you so much!"

"See ya later, boss!"

With that, Hungary hanged up, having the biggest smile on her face, and she whirled around to face Alfred. "Alfred! ALFRED! You won't believe this. My boss just called! He's going to be visiting your boss in your capital and-"

"You'll be going with me, and I'll be there to host you!" America finished with an excited grin, and Hungary blinked. "My boss called me, he told me the same news! The visit's next week!"

"I KNOW! I can't believe our luck!"

"Yeah, me neither, dude. Looks like we're gonna be seeing the gang a lot sooner than we thought, huh?"

"Y-Yes! It looks like it!" Hungary laughed breathlessly, and she took America's hand in her own. In a reversal of roles, Hungary was now the one dragging him. "But we can celebrate that in a bit. We still have some business to attend to do. Now, come on, let's deal with them _together_."

America nodded, a determined glint in his eyes. "Yeah, let's do this."

And with that, hand in hand, smile and smile, the two Ligthners left feeling a lot happier than what they'd thought they'd be today.

/ / / / /

**_Curious…_**

**_This unexpected event is very, very curious… The boy brought another player into the game… curious… Not what I had expected at all… _**

**_No matter._**

**_In fact, perhaps it is better this way. This will change nothing. Perhaps this will make things more fun…_**

**_Yes._**

**_This new development will be… very, very interesting…_**

**_…_**

**_You. I know you are watching._**

**_I know you are observing them too._**

**_Why so quiet?_**

**_Why have you not said anything?_**

**_Are you… afraid?_**

**_…_**

**_Jealous, possibly?_**

**_…_**

**_It is rude to keep someone waiting._**

**_…_**

**_I know, I know…_**

**_So…_**

**_What do you think?_**

**YES! Finally movinng on to the main plot. Sorry that it ended up taking a bit longer than expected, but I hope you're enjoying this story nonetheless. Oh, and fun fact: The US president and the Hungarian PM did actually have a meeting a few months ago. I was actually thinking of having that happen in the story, but it's still pretty funny that it ended up happening in real life. XD**

**Please review if you have a minute.**


	13. The Long Week: To Investigate!

**Thanks to FGO, Redbayly and Mel0 for reviewing! Man, I'm so sorry for the big delay. I thought I'd get it out earlier, but I had a serious case of writer's block and you have no idea how many times I''ve had to rewrite several parts of the chapter. Fingers crossed that another delay this long won't happen again. Now, on with the show!**

_(DANGANRONPA Trigger Happy Havoc OST: Beautiful Days)_

Of course, America probably should've known that the rest of day wasn't going to be _all_ smiles and laughs.

"Where have you been?!"

America cringed at Iggy's pissed-off voice making his poor ears bleed, and he sweatdropped. Good to be home, huh?

Yeah, yeah, he knew that he was gonna get some flack. He's long gotten used to it at this point after so many times of ditching politics to take a trip to the Dark World. But still, yeesh, Iggy's loud as ever.

Hungary had a similar reaction, except she didn't hide her contempt and her disgust toward the guy, and sent him a scowl that'd make Italy pee his pants. In fact, America was super sure he could see her hiding her frying pan behind her back as she oozed hatred… but maybe that's just him.

See, not too long after walking off on a happy and satisfying note about how they'll be able see each other again next week (again, awesome~"), they kinda just bumped right into the people they were not looking forward into. Bummer, am I right?

…And did America mention that the three of them were still a little upset over Hungary's epic burn? And that England was hit by a door? Oh, and hey, it turned out China got trampled by two certain 'hooligans'. Wonder who they could've been?

"Alfred, you better not be having an internal monologue right now!"

Shit, was it that noticeable?

Blinking, he slowly returned to Earth as he looked up at the guys in front of him. "Sorry, dudes."

"America, we don't want any trouble." Germany said carefully, rubbing at his temples. Poor guy looked totally stressed out. "We just want a word with you and to answer a few simple questions, that's all."

America smiled at him, and he flashed a thumbs-up. "Yeah, yeah, I understand, Germany. So, what were we talking about again?"

The three Europeans groaned while Hungary snorted in amusement.

"We were speaking about how you and Miss Hungary here need to answer for your informed absence at the meeting!" England growled, looking about ready to tear his own hair out. "And she has still yet to apologize for her insensitive comments!"

"So have you," Hungary grumbled under her breath.

"What did you just say, you-"

With awesome speed, America intervened just before things could get a chance to get messy.

"Hey! Listen, I get why you might see what Lizzy said as a dick move," America began calmly, smiling uneasily. "But you guys are giving her such a hard time over this whole immigration mess. So Lizzy doesn't want people to enter her country illegally or floods of people who probably have no respect for her culture or way of life. What's so wrong about that?"

It wasn't until a few seconds after the three Europeans stared at him all weirdly that America realized that he just called Hungary with her human nickname… for the first time in front of them. Was it a problem? America didn't think so.

"Lizzy?" Germany repeated, saying it all slowly. "Did you just call her… _Lizzy_?"

America blinked, before he figured that, hey, might as well announce your new best bud! He felt his grin come back with full force. "Yessiree! Hungary and I are now on the way to becoming better pals!"

"That's right!" Hungary agreed heartily, a broad smile brimming with pride on her face as she held her head high. "After a fun talk regarding the similar difficulties of our lives and dealing with embittered nations, we've decided that it was high time that we improve our relations. And now we're slowly becoming better friends?"

"Oh…" France suddenly had that weird fishy smirk on his face that he'd always get when he's being… y'know, France. "Better friends, eh? Ohonhonhon! Does that mean that you two-"

A bonk on the head by England prevented France from finishing. "Focus, frog! Get your mind out of the gutter and stay on the main topic of conversation!"

"Ohonhonhon~" France chuckled with his signature laugh while a bump grew on his head. "Ah, Angleterre… there's no need to act all jealous that dear Amerique has found a fixation other than you."

"Jealous, my arse!"

"BE QUIET, YOU TWO!"

And that, dudes, was the story of how America and Hungary became the background characters of yet another one of England and France's arguments. They sweatdropped as the 'fight' unfolded while Germany groaned from behind them. Even he didn't look like he felt like breaking up the fight. He's probably burned out from the meeting…

Man. Why did he get the feeling that this'll take a long while to get over with?

…Wonder what Allen, Gil and Flavio could be doing right now? They're probably having a much better time than they were, no doubt about it.

/ / / / /

_(JSRF – Aisle 10)_

After saying goodbye to Al… and maybe staying rooted to the floor staring at the door his doppelganger and Betsy just through until Flavio literally, towed him away, Allen will fucking admit that he felt… warm inside, you know, because of today.

No, not THAT kind of warmth, dammit! It's that kind of nice feeling in your heart, you know? The one that makes you feel all happy like everything's right in the world, feel satisfied with your day, and made you wanna smile for no damn reason… And the kind that's not good for Allen's reputation.

God, Alfred always had that effect on him, especially when there's no one around for Allen to act tough around for. His sunny disposition and adorable laugh that's not obnoxious was damn infectious. It's not like he hated it, but it's never easy for Allen to… let go. He's too used to being like a street punk. Hell, he liked acting like a street punk. But it's… grr… gah… you know… ngh…

GAH! Whatever, man! What's he's trying to say was that Al makes him feel all warm and fuzzy inside like Washington's old hugs. And that's what Allen felt right now, y.

Yeah… He supposed Betsy might have something to do with it too. Maybe being reminded of Erszi had something to do with it. Maybe the fact that he ate chili had something to do with it as well. Whatever, point was, it was a good day.

No, that's probably an understatement. Today's turning out to be a great day after dealing with a buttload of stress for the past week.

"Oh, I can't believe what an exciting day we've had!" Flavio sighed as he collapsed on the sofa. "I certainly wasn't expecting to meet another Lightner today, or any day really. It was quite a nice breath of fresh air after all the chaos throughout the week, don't you think Gil?"

"Indeed. Today was a pleasant day, a nice rest for what's been happening as of late." Gillen agreed with a smile as he sat down. "And I'm very glad to see that all of us enjoyed our time together with the Lightners."

"Yeah, it really was cool for Al to visit and bring Betsy along…" Allen said with a fond smirk, and for once it didn't pain him to admit it.

But his rather unusually happy mood was briefly ruined when he spotted Flavio giving him a no-good grin. Allen scowled. "Hey, what the hell are _you_ smirking at, Flavio? I already admitted it and shit, what more do you want?"

As soon as he got those words out of his dirty mouth, Allen yelped when he felt Flavio calmly pull on his ear again. Gah, not again! "First of all: language, Ally. Second, oh, please get those paranoid thoughts out of your fabulous head. I'm just proud of you."

"Y-Yeah, yeah, can ya express it without ripping my ear off?" Allen yelped.

"Flavio, give him a break for just this once." Gillen gently told him, and Flavio released Allen's poor ear. "We've had a good day. Let's just enjoy the remainder of it in peace together."

And they did it in peace alright, cause for the next couple of minutes, the Trinity Trio did nothing but… Well, they're doing nothing. Or at least Allen's not doing anything. He's just there on the sofa, contemplating whether he should take a nap or not, while Gillen seemed to be doing a prayer and Flavio was cleaning his shades.

But Allen couldn't rest. There's something eating away at him. There's still stuff to do.

"Sooo… Now what?" Allen asked halfheartedly as he got comfortable on the couch, shooting up a glance at the windows. "Sun's still up and shining, so we still have a lotta time to do sh- stuff, important stuff, y'know?"

It was an innocent remark, Allen didn't mean anything bad by it. So Allen instantly regretted ever saying any of what he just said when Flavio gasped and got that twinkle in his eye whenever he thought of the s-word…

Oh _hell_ no…

The blonde Italian clapped his hands in delight, a sparkle in his eyes. "Ooh! You're so right, bambino. The day's still young, which means that we have plenty of time go…"

"Please no…" Allen groaned loudly.

"SHOPPING!" Flavio jumped in the air in glee.

"What? No, no, no! That's not what I fucking meant, dammit!" Allen grasped at his hair in horror and desperately turned to Gillen, practically the voice of reason, for help. "Come on, Gil, talk to him. I don't wanna go fucking shopping!

"I'm afraid I agree with Allen, Flavio." Gillen smiled sadly at Flavio, who pouted and sat back down, to Allen's relief. "I don't think there's time for us to go out shopping yet. I believe there are still important things on the agenda…"

_(DANGANRONPA Trigger Happy Havoc OST – Desire for Execution)_

The atmosphere suddenly grew serious, and Allen found himself reminded of a shitty, shitty reality.

"Yeah, as much as I'd like for us to share a good laugh and have the camera freeze on us in an embarrassing frame so the credits will roll, we still have Italy to deal with." America felt a sneer on his lips at the thought of that guy, "And by that, I mean we still don't know how we're gonna deal with that shitstain."

Both Gillen and Flavio tensed at the mention of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, AKA probably the biggest asshole in the whole wide world. And that's saying something.

A sigh from Gil got the other two nations' attention, and he looked at them "Ja, you're right in reminding us that we still have important matters to solve, Allen."

"Damn right I am." Allen snorted.

"…But I'm absolutely sure that there's nothing wrong with waiting until tomorrow to properly discuss and formulate a plan for… the Italy issue." Prussia suggested patiently, giving a hopeful smile. "Just until tomorrow, no more, no less."

Allen could've sworn he felt his jaw drop to the floor. "Wh- TOMORROW?! You want us to fucking wait until tomorrow to deal with the biggest threat to the fucking world right now?"

"Language, bambino!" Flavio reprimanded again, crossing his arms at Allen. "And I think Gil is right, honestly. You were so tired and stressed out today until Alfred showed up to lift your spirits. In case you've forgotten, there's a door ripped off right off its hinges upstairs."

Allen froze up, feeling his face burn up with embarrassment as he rubbed the back of his head. "I… uh… I told you, I'll call the door guy!"

"That's not the point. What you– What we _all_ need– is a nice long rest and a good night's sleep for a day of planning." Flavio sighed, and then he looked off toward the window with a somber look. "God knows we'll need it to figure out what my fratello's going to do, especially you. I doubt cursing and threatening violence will instantly solve this."

Allen opened his mouth to retort that that is not true, but then the memory of how much of a _dick_ he was in the morning came to mind. He gritted his teeth. "Tch. Yeah, guess you have a point. I could use a good night's sleep before planning how to deal with people."

"Exactly." Prussia nodded, staring off at the window towards the distance with distracted look. "For the sake of having a cool, rational mind, I think we should all rest."

The silent agreement from Allen signaled the end of the conversation, but they weren't done yet. Because since they're talking about that bastard, Allen

"Hey, speaking of Italy, that reminds me… Flavio!" Allen called out to his metrosexual older brother, expression serious. "You heard anything from Luci? No call or anything? Shouldn't that bastard have caught on that you've gone AWOL again?"

Allen frowned when he saw Flavio pale fucking noticeably, and his older brother figure bit his lip while twiddling his fingers. Gil also snapped out of whatever the hell he's thinking about and looked at Flavio worriedly. Yup. That's pretty much the normal reaction for when anyone asked the uh… home situation between Flavio and his damn brother nowadays.

For some goddamn reason, Flavio and that fucking shitstain lived together. Yeah, read that again all its ridiculousness. Sure, not always, since Flavio had a house himself. But Flavio still liked to spend a worrying amount of time over there. Needless to say, Allen didn't like it. Gillen didn't like it. Hell, he's pretty sure _no one_ liked it.

You could pretty much guess what life in the house was like. It was pretty damn depressing. And Allen wasn't even exaggerating. He's been over to that place once, and ever since then he only became more determined in getting Flavio to accept that there's no point in trying to help a fucker like Italy. But noooo, just because of what happened with their crapsack of a grandpa, Flavio had a fucking moral obligation to stay with Italy.

Things were always tense between those two. And it's only gotten worse since the last meeting. Flavio's tried to talk some sense to his brother, but of course it didn't do shit. So since then Flavio's pretty much avoided his cray-cray brother like the plague…

"I... I'm not sure, really. But he hasn't called yet to complain, so that must be a good sign… I hope." Flavio said timidly, not even making eye-contact. Not a good sign.

"Or perhaps he's waiting for you to come here. As abrasive as he is, he is still capable of great patience." Gillen mused grimly, narrowing his eyes in thought. "But there's no telling what he'll do once you arrive."

"S-Si, that too…" Flavio gulped, probably only now realizing that there's a teeny-tiny chance he'll be in deep shit. But in typical Flavio fashion, he smiled through it all. "But I'm not that worried. We might not get along very well, but I don't think he'd do anything horrible me…"

Allen was about to jump at the chance to grill him for his dumb logic, but surprisingly, Gillen beat him to it. "Flavio, I do not like this."

"It's… not exactly a matter of if, Gilly."

Gillen's eyes widened in shock, while Allen wasn't sure he could believe the bullshit he just heard.

"Wait, you're gonna go back to that dick's house? His _house_?" Allen exclaimed, standing up from the couch, and he glared at Flavio, ignoring the pang of hurt in his heart. Didn't Flavio care about what they feel when they see him go back to his depressing life at Italy's life?

Flavio had the fucking nerve to look at the damn floor even his face had guilt written all over it. "Si, I am, although not until we find a way to deal with the issue."

"That doesn't make it any damn better!" Allen growled.

"It's not what it sounds like, I promise!" Flavio cried to him, and he bit his lip. "I was thinking, and… you're probably right. Maybe I can't reason with him, maybe I can't do anything to stop him by just talking to him. But I go back, then maybe I can try to glean information out of him. I'm good at that…"

…Dammit, Flavio.

_(Danganronpa V3 OST - Heartless Journey)_

"That's it."

"S-Scusa?"

"You're gonna be staying here until this whole crapfest blows over." Allen declared firmly, getting off from his lazy position on the couch to stand up on front of a puzzled Flavio. "I'm not gonna let you go back to that son of a bitch while he's acting all fishy and shit. You're not going back until you decide you don't want to see that guy, _capiche?_"

He spoke each and every word with a kind of seriousness and steel to it that he didn't use very often, all the usual grumpiness or laziness was completely gone from his voice. He wasn't messing around. He wasn't bluffing. Allen seriously meant it this time.

Too many times. Too many fucking times Allen had to see one of the most important people of his life go back home to that bastard like a wife who just couldn't fucking accept that her abusive husband was a total asshole. While Flavio knew that his brother was a total asshole, he just couldn't get through his thick skull that just because he was indirectly responsible for Italy's rise to assholery, it didn't mean he should be stuck with him.

Okay, maybe he's exaggerating a little. Flavio was tough and he didn't screw around, but while he didn't let Italy beat him or insult his pals, he still let the tool insult him. Flavio was basically _miserable_ whenever he stayed over at Italy's place. And the worst part was that Flavio thought that he deserved it.

Man, did Flavio look stunned. Guess he wasn't too used to his grown up little brother ordering him around, huh? Well, Allen's not a kid anymore.

"Wh-What?" Flavio's mouth dropped in shock, and maybe horror, and he of course tried to change Allen's mind. "N-No, Allen! That won't be necessary. I know you're worried but I can take care of myself just fine."

"Yeah, you sure can, just not in this case." Allen stated bluntly. He walked to up to Flavio and glared hard at him. "For Washington's sake, Flavi, even when your 'fratello's' gone completely off the rails, you still think you can handle him by yourself."

Flavio looked hurt, _hurt_ of all things. "I can. I have been able for centuries. Bambino, I appreciate your worry, I really do, but you need to trust me. Gil, please-"

"I agree with Allen." Gillen interjected sharply, catching both of them by surprise. It wasn't that often that Gillen sided with Allen over Flavio.

Okay, maybe because Allen was a 'shoot first, ask questions later' kind of guy, but still.

Flavio looked betrayed. "Gil, how could you say that? You know that I can-"

"I _know_, but Italy's becoming unpredictable. If he has truly snapped, then perhaps he won't hesitate to hurt you anymore." Gillen countered calmly, face grim and filled with sadness, but he was _serious_. "For all we know, he could be currently making plans to capture you _as_ soon as you arrive at the house. He might ambush you with the other Asix. Who'd be there to help you if that happens?"

"Flavio, I know that you care for your brother despite everything, to the point where you're willing to live in the same house as him." Gillen began gently, and not he's able to hide how he didn't like that fact. "But we can't trust him to be alone with you. It's dangerous right now, _mein freund_. You have to trust our judgment."

To Allen's relief, it seemed like Flavio looked increasingly conflicted by the minute. "I do trust the both of you. But if I don't go, then how will we know what he's planning? This isn't just about me and my _fratello_, Gil. Do you really think it's easy for me go back? Do you really think I'm happy to go back there to him? The only reason I'm eager to go back is because I want to stop all this!"

Allen formed his hands into fists, feeling a range of overwhelming emotions in him. "What about us? Sure, you want to help us all out. But do you think it's easy for us to see you go back to your miserable life with Luciano? Haven't you ever stopped to think about how we feel doing this to yourself? I'll _tell_ you how it fucking feels. It-"

Gil raised a hand, signaling Allen to let him take care of this. Out of old habit, Allen automatically shut his mouth.

"I know it's not easy for you. And I know that you only want to help us, even Luciano, but you have to think this rationally and realistically." Gillen told him with a calming gesture. "There are other ways to help. And he knows you are loyal to us first and foremost, and no amount of guilt-tripping or threats could possibly change that. If he can't get you to join, then…"

Unable to form a good counter-argument, Flavio bit his lip, went back to staring at the floor, and said nothing.

"Flavio, please, at least stay until we deem it safe." Gillen pleaded with him, clasping his hands together. "If you like, we can go to your house to pick up more of your things to make your stay more comfortable, but until then, you can't go anywhere near Italy."

Again, Flavio said nothing.

Unable to take any more of this shit, Allen cursed and grabbed Flavio's hand. God, he hated feeling so weak…

"Please…" Allen gritted his teeth, his voice cracking. And- Was he _crying?_ "For me… No… For _us_, Flavi. I don't want you to go. _Per favore, mi fratello. _Don't leave us…"

He couldn't see through the tears blurring his vision, and he couldn't bring himself to look up to see Flavio's face, so his hair was covering his eyes. But he _felt_ Flavio's hand tense. And after seemed like forever, Flavio finally answered.

"…All right." Allen blinked and finally looked up at Flavio. He was smiling, but he was crying. "It's all right, bambino. I'll stay."

Even though hearing that news was more than enough reason for Allen to stop crying and throttle Flavio for scaring them like that, it only seemed to make him cry even harder. Man, this was embarrassing…

"_Grazie_, you two."

/ / / / /

_(Danganronpa V3 OST: Despair Searching)_

The ride to the government facility was pretty uneventful, basically, which was a damn shame, because it's a long ride to the place and Cuba could only listen to Argentina's 'funny' story about playing matchmaker to his birdie friends for so long without dozing off.

And Cuba's supposed to be driving.

Still, it's _Argentina_, so there's no use trying to tell him to without feeling like a complete jerk. And Cuba figured that his friend talking about his ovenbirds would help not think too much about the enormous pressure. Cuba even cracked a joke now and then to help out.

Cuba decided that he was doing a pretty decent job keeping both their spirits up despite the possible gravity of this whole damn situation and, well, the fact that they're on their way to interrogate to Italian spies, and that ain't no laughing matter. They needed to do this right. For all they knew, the entire outcome of this escalating conflict depended on the info they squeezed out of these bastards, truthful info for that matter.

If they messed up, then Cuba will never be able to forgive himself, especially if it'll cost the boss's life…

When they finally arrived the place, Argentina finally stopped talking about the key to an ovenbird's healthy diet and left the car walking beside Cuba in a decent pace, hunching over like usual. He hadn't said a word since, and of course, the hair thing didn't help. He just walked along, holding his plushie safe against his chest, and only spoke when they went to meet with the guards.

Cuba could only wonder what the hell Argentina could be thinking about. He guessed it could be nerves. Great, that's two of them…

He sighed, wishing he had a cigar and that Argentina didn't make this facility a smoke-free workplace, and looked around anxiously. There were humans going on about in their business, though a whole lot of them spared a curious or wary glance at their nation at least once. Not surprised, despite kinda working directly for the guy, it's still Argentina. The guy's not just a bomb waiting to be set off; he's _the_ nation of Argentina.

The place itself in general was far from the desolate, fear-striking, grim, dark centers you'd find in the bad guys' countries. Barring the whole intelligence, interrogation purpose of this place, it's actually quite cozy-looking, courtesy of Argentina.

Vaya, when's the last time he came here? That whole fiasco with Mexico? The Long War? Cuba couldn't quite remember.

They went down the hall with one of the humans guiding them until eventually they reached the door they were looking for, and Cuba and the others went inside the interrogation room or the outside part of it to be more specific. Right there were at least a dozen people doing several stuff, including watching the people on the other side of the glass.

It was there that Cuba got a good look at the bad guys that they needed to crack, and he had to say, it… wasn't what he was expecting.

The Italians looked terrified. No, wait, that's probably an understatement, but they just looked so darn scared that Cuba found himself feeling bad for them. And the thing was, he didn't really think that ginormous fear was directed at the Argentinians…

Welp, Cuba swallowed. Time to get started…

/ / / / /

_(PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond - Crag Area 4)_

China did not appreciate the foreboding sense of… something that he was feeling.

Adjusting his black and red _changsan_ and military cap, the short-haired man stared off to the horizon in the porch of his little home, eyes narrowed as he thought and pondered deeply on everything that had happened as of late as well as his feelings.

China did not like feeling anxious, uneasy, or anything of the sort. It was weakness. And he was always careful and successful in eliminating whatever weakness he could possibly show, but he will grudgingly admit that this was a special case.

Confused? Then, please, by all means, allow him to explain…

Italy's actions during the previous meeting were… _odd_, if not annoying and suspicious. It puzzled China as much as it did everyone, even that flamboyant brother of his. Not even Japan knew exactly what was on Italy's mind, and that boy was fond of spending much time with that brat.

He was already aware that Russia was investigating into Italy's suspicious behavior. In fact, he's aware that anyone with a cautious and intelligent enough mind was investigating into Italy's suspicious behavior and actions in search for answers.

As for China? It would do him well to start investigating as well, yes. But he already had… _other_ concerns to take care of, namely something that had been practically bothering him for quite a while. And that was saying something, because normally anything that was bothering him would have been swiftly dealt with an agonizing death as soon as possible.

Hmm… except for perhaps, Taiwan, Thailand, America and the rest of the Trinity Alliance. But… All will be in due time.

But this wasn't someone. This was something he had been keeping secretly. Over the past few weeks, China had been having an odd but grim premonition. He had been feeling a sense of foreboding regarding one of his… secrets. As if it's in danger of being discovered by someone… and the feeling had only intensified since the meeting.

If China was an impatient man, he's use that very most secret weapon to rid the world of his enemies and be done with it. He had worked long and hard, shedding countless blood and lives to reach this point. It would be a damn shame if he just let his plans for the world be crushed into nothing.

But he won't. Not even as a last resort. Why? Because China wasn't an impatient man, and especially not a foolish one, make no mistake. It was how he had lived for so long, and in such a position of power as well. He had vowed to keep 'it' out of anyone's sight or hands to prevent anyone from using it, not to use it himself. If anyone, and he did mean anyone, including himself, utilized that weapon, all would perish.

He will raise the security measures. No, he will move the hiding place. He will move it to a place no one will ever think to look

There are just some things that even he wasn't bold enough to do. Things that would result in his own self-destruction in more ways than one. Things are so dangerous and risky that only someone so blinded by greed and delusions of grandeur would be willing to try…

…Someone like _Italy_.

/ / / / /

_(Danganronpa V3 OST White - 27. Spirit, Praise and Beauty)_

"Have you heard, brother?" He spoke with an amused yet dry tone of voice, looking towards his brother. "Argentina had sent both of us a message. Quite unnecessary if you ask me since we spend almost every single day together with your awful stench, but whatever. Apparently, there spies running amok in one the Alliance's countries, _Italian_ spies."

His brother quickly turned his head toward him. Despite the mask on him, the smirking nation knew exactly what he was thinking. "There are?"

"Yes, yes, isn't it something?" He sniggered, leaning back against his chair with a mischievous smile. "And here I was wondering if I was the only one with rats running around. Argentina wanted to warn everyone to check if they've got any unwanted visitors too. There's probably going to be a meeting in the future too."

But this was also an opportunity to see if some of his theories were correct. If his suspicions about Italy's goals were right, then he's going to need to tread carefully, check on some of his… treasures, and then inform everyone else of the danger. If it were all true, then he'll see

"I think it's time we take care of the matter, don't you think, brother?

"… If it what's you want… then I'll do anything you require me to do." His brother spoke with a rather raspy voice and a slow pace, a result of rarely ever speaking unless allowed to. "Are you… going to get rid of them yourself…?"

Yes, that would be the action most expected of him, no? One of the human-hating nations going over to torture and kill the cowardly humans who dared fish any information about him for their nation to use.

It would be easy, _too_ easy, in fact. It might even provide him with a bit of more fun today. The sound of over-confident and sinful humans screaming would be an absolute delight to hear. However…

"...No, I think not." He said finally, looking at his nails absentmindedly. "If I myself arrive to capture then dispose the insolent humans, it might give Italy the impression that he's onto something. And we can't have that, can we? So, you need to be one to go and bring those humans in for questioning. Understand?"

"Yes, brother." The tool replied automatically. No glee, no boredom, no nothing. No emotion.

"You _could_ sound a little more excited, you know." He grumbled in displeasure, leaning his head on his hand. What an absolute _bore_. "Oh, come on, this is a splendid opportunity to polish your skills in the field of interrogation AKA torture. I can't have you go rusty now can I? Why must you sound so _dull?_"

His brother tensed at the reprimand, and he bowed his head in guilt. This time he showed emotion – guilt – as he spoke with a distorted voice. "I apologize, brother. I didn't mean to ruin your happy mood."

"As if I'd let someone as insignificant as you ruin my happiness, stupid little brother." He scoffed at the very idea, but "But anyway, I'm entrusting the swift capture of the arrogant humans to you, my trusted shadow. I will give you their location and I trust that you can do the rest. Do _not_ let them suspect that there is someone after them.

The puppet nodded, now with just the smallest hint of _positive_ emotion in his voice. "They will not be free to see the light of day, brother. I will make them pay for invading you."

He smiled proudly at the better display of emotion. "Good, good… That's the spirit. Now, get going, will you? And do be sure to shower too!"

"Yes, brother."

/ / / / /

_New Danganronpa V3 OST: Nightmare in Locker)_

That red-haired brat had proven to be quite the nuisance.

Red eyes stared long and hard at the map of the country that said boy represented, mostly out of sheer boredom, but also in concentration as he attempted to try to put the scattered pieces of the puzzle together.

America always had been a nuisance, despite Russia not having such a prominent spot on the boy's so-called 'rouges' gallery' such as England, Canada, or Italy... (Tch, he'll save what he had to say on that last one for later). And Russia did consider him to be an enemy, a genuine threat to boot, and he knew America felt the same. Well, why else would that Western 'street punk' be brimming with hostility and hatred around Russia?

Yes, while it did seem America was that way with everyone, Russia had noticed that there was a difference in the way he treated him that resembled the boy's unfettered hatred for Italy and his former colonizer. While Russia was aware that he was considered dangerous by that foolish alliance, America especially seemed determined to see him fall.

Hm. But anyway…

It always vexed him how America could just cause everything to fall apart with his mere involvement… Thwarting Russia's attempt to acquire more power for his own self-interest, convincing Lithuania to defect from Russia's side, just overall standing in his way… Yes, it vexed him very much.

Just how did a short-tempered brat like him managed to survive up to this point, even Russia wasn't sure. But somehow, through some miracle, America survived and thrived despite the ever-present threat of other nations, even landing himself in the position of the 'world superpower'.

And as America grew in power and even in wisdom, he found himself standing in Russia's way of his goals more frequently throughout the years. That boy was a magnet for trouble and chaos no matter where he went and he took full advantage of it each time he confronted Russia. They have only physically clashed once, but even that time was a day Russia will not find himself forgetting.

This… This disturbance that America caused, this derailment of his plans… It was more than enough for Russia's blood to boil.

He felt his fingers twitch at the thought, a sort of odd anger rose within him as he growled under his breath, and he once again felt burdened by the feeling of bafflement of said anger.

It's… frankly, quite _odd_. He and America never had that much bad blood between them compared to the latter and Canada, England, Italy, stc. So why did he feel so compelled to despise that foul-mouthed boy and wish that he could one day bury him alive in a mountain of snow?

No matter how he tried, he couldn't pinpoint the exact origin of this scorching hatred, a failure that irked Russia to this very day. He did not like having his emotions out of his control, and there was the possibility that this anger would one day cost him somehow.

It was nothing wild and difficult to restrain. No, Russia was not like that. He was much better than that. This feeling of hatred mostly manifested in cold insults and berating America whenever a good opportunity presented itself, to which the boy would kindly respond by hurling his own insults and taunts at him. While Russia would, he would be lying if he said that he always felt at least slightly annoyed by said insults.

One random 'insult' in particular, if it even was an insult (Russia never cared for researching American slang and whatnot), 'commie', was among the most irritating ones… oddly enough.

He was annoyed… Even though Russia did not care for what insults those fools had to spit at him, much less America.

They could bark and whine all they wanted. In the end, he's still stronger than them. Since they had no meager chance of defeating, they compensated by ridiculing him.

But Russia did not miss the flaming fury and scorching hatred in the boy's red eyes, how once in a while, for just the briefest of seconds, a flicker of confliction and confusion passed through his face. If Russia did not know any better, it would seem that America was afflicted with the same mysterious hatred as he was. And it did say something, considering that the boy was already ridiculously short-tempered and possessed an irritation toward everyone.

Not that Russia could truly blame him.

Tssk. Russia sneered and shook his head at his silly thoughts. He was devoting too much time to this. He will devote spare time to this mystery and see to it that this hindrance to him was dealt with. He did not need _distractions_.

Bottom line was, America was a bug that needed to be squashed, but when and how was still up to debate. Russia was still attempting to conclude just which country of this miserable little world was the biggest threat to his goals.

And what was his goal, out of all of this?

…Well, partially? What every nation wished, to see their enemies and potential threats to their positions of power destroyed or dealt with, to be at the so-called top of the world. That he very much wished to do. Personally? He wanted to finally have some true solitude in his life. By crushing all the noise around him and enveloping the world around him in cold, unfeeling winter… he will be at peace for eternity.

But unfortunately, he knew it was much easier said than done, especially in the cases of America, Prussia, the rest of their funny little group, and… _Italy_.

Russia sneered once the aforementioned nation came to mind, and he refrained from doing something along the lines of banging a hole into the table again. While his feelings toward America ranged from irate, mild interest to a mysteriously strong hatred, what he felt toward that pest was what could only be described as an extremely strong feeling of _annoyance_.

The whelp was dangerous, Russia will give him that. Italy was a credit to his grandfather, who despite Russia having never met him himself was said to be ruthless, extremely successful conqueror himself. Russia will at least respect him for that. And each of Russia's attempts to crush him ultimately ended with miniscule success at best or complete failure at worst, not unlike with America.

More importantly, Italy had some convoluted plan that was the cause of his over-confident behavior in the last meeting. Well, that much was obvious for anyone with half a brain. But the details of said plan still evaded Russia and it made him rather restless. He will find the truth. It can run, but it cannot hide.

Russia also had a sneaking suspicion that America knew more than he let on, but of what remained to be seen. Those two were hiding something interesting from the world, perhaps even from their own family, and Russia was nothing but determined to find out. He needed to know who needed to be dealt with first.

If push came to shove and Italy turned out to be bigger threat, Russia will have to work with Prussia and his lot to finally put an end to Italy. That is, if their worthless penchant for goodness and morals didn't prevent them from cooperating with him. The idea brought a sour taste in his throat, but it was something he'll do without complaint if it'll solve the problem.

…Speaking of, that brought him the reason why he was staring at a map of America in the first place.

He had been thinking about what his course of action should be.

And he believed that he had finally reached a decision…

/ / / / /

_(Deltarune OST: School)_

"Jeez, I don't think I've gotten such a tongue-lashing this year since my boss discovered that I've been using Air Force One behind his back." America dryly remarked as he rubbed the back of his head, his ears still buzzing from the earful England gave him.

Yeah, America knew completely well that one needed to deal with the consequences and all that, but England's really making a big deal over nothing. In fact, that whole thing practically amounted to nothing. Unless there's some hidden lesson somewhere, it was pretty pointless.

"Trust me; they're like this all the time." Hungary groaned loudly. "And they're not even done with us yet."

Yup, yessiree. You heard that right. He and Hungary decided to ditch getting scolded _for_ ditching when the yelling and France and England constantly getting off-topic so that they could either ask weird questions about their new friendship or insult each other became too much. Yeah, the situation's far from over, but _maybe_ they should give those three dudes a few minutes to deal with their issues…

Will they regret it? Probably. Even America felt kind of bad for leaving. But if they're getting no reasonable reprimanding out of it that's not about how they ditched the meeting, then why stick around?

"You know what, Alfred? Forget them. We have better things to do than to think about them." Hungary harrumphed before whirling around to face him with a cute smile. "Remember. You said that you were going to explain to me about the portals after that whole mess."

At first, America blinked in confusion, but then it him. Oh yeah, he did say that, didn't he?

He grinned at her, feeling super excited over finally telling someone other than Tony about the portals. "Oh yeah! Well, since we still have some free time on our hands, I guess I could tell ya the whole deal with the worlds."

"Excellent! So, where would you like to-"

"Alfie!~"

America's attention was snapped in the direction, and he was met with the sight of Taiwan running toward him, grinning from ear to ear, with a hand waving at him. He felt himself relax. Oh yeah, he told her that they could hang out later, didn't he?

He waved back at her, returning the grin. Golly, she's a sight for sore eyes. "Hey, Tai!"

Taiwan seemed to really appreciate the gesture, as she beamed even brighter as she approached him. "Oh, Alfie, you have no idea how happy I am to see you! I was worried sick! I-"

"OH MY, LIKE, GAWD, LIZZY!"

America's eyes widened when Taiwan was unceremoniously blocked in her path by a panicking Poland storming towards them brimming with fabulous rage. He could see Hungary already paling at the sight of her old pal approaching, who's no doubt going to demand where the heck they've been.

Uh-Oh, they didn't really think about what to say to him either, did they? Man, next time America needed to better plan out his spur of the moment decisions.

Poland looked like he just discovered his ponies nearly ate his favorite dress. He was sweating bullets, and was fanning himself as if he was about to faint. Actually, he did look like he was about to faint.

"Uh…" America's eyes flickered back and forth between Poland and Taiwan, who kinda looked a little upset over getting cut off, but Poland bellowed with all his valley-girl might as soon as soon as he stood in front of them.

"Where have you, like, been? I've been, like, so worried about you, girl!" Poland exclaimed in an even heavier valley girl accent than usual as he went up on their personal space. "You two, like, totally up and poofed for like the past few hours. No one, like, knows where you, like, ran off to! You know, when I, like, held back those losers for you to go out and chillax, I didn't, like, know you wanted to ditch the meeting!"

Hungary was at a total loss for words, and America felt real bad for her. "L-Look, Feliks, I know this looks bad and I'm grateful that you helped me out there, but-"

"'Cause, like, I'm so offended that you didn't, like, tell me! We could've, like, gone shopping together instead of totally wasting our time here." Poland whined and put his hands on his hips before stomping his foot angrily, totally ignoring what Hungary said. "We could've, like, had all kinds of fun together!"

Well, at least he's gonna scold them for being irresponsible and stuff, America laughed nervously.

America decided to do some damage control, since he's also responsible for this little mess. He put on his best smile and tried to interject in Poland's rant. "W-Well, dude, there's actually a really good explanation for why we-"

"…But instead of that fabulous afternoon, you, like, abandon me for the whole meeting!" Poland, like, totally ignored him (Holy Batman, it's infectious!) and went on like America hadn't spoken. "Do you have, like, any idea how BORING it was? And when the fighting broke out, like, for the gazillionth time, _I_ was stuck all alone against the EU clods! They, like, kept getting up in my face! Oh, and I think Prussia might've claimed Austria's vital regions…"

Hungary's head shot up, and there's a totally weird look on her face. "Wait, what?"

"And you, like, Alfred, I know we're becoming, like, totes better friends and all, but, like, what the heck?" Poland shrilled at him, putting a manicured hand over his chest as he looked at America with what looked like betrayal. "I, like, show you all my ponies and you, like, repay me by running off with one of my most amazing buddies ever? Like, rude!"

Rude? Huh, nice. Least he wasn't screaming curses at him. America blinked and he raised his hands in a calming gesture. "Dude, I'm telling you, there's an explanation for-!"

"…So, anyway, now that I, like, totally got all that outta my system, what do you guys have to say for yourselves?" Poland said finally, staring expectantly at them while tapping one of his high heels impatiently.

America and Hungary shared a dubious glance, and he decided to be the one to explain first. "First off, Pol, dude, I want you to know that we didn't mean to abandon ya. And I didn't-"

But America's apology/cover story/kinda maybe sorta ass-pull was interrupted when Taiwan suddenly reappeared and bonked Poland on the head, looking like he'd just seen her bedroom adorned with a bunch of China flags.

"Hey! Poland, move out of the way! _I_ saw Alfie first, so _I_ should be the one to talk to him." He blinked as Taiwan snapped at the guy, pushing him aside. Then, weirdly, she went back to her old self once Poland was outta the way. "Oh, Alfie, I was so worried you when you disappeared. I was actually looking for you when you were gone, but I couldn't find you!"

It took a few seconds for America to register and get over how the conversation, but he smiled reassuringly at his other gal pal. Wowie, Taiwan must've been real worried about him.

"Yeah, seems everyone was looking for us, huh?" America laughed sheepishly, awkwardly scratching his head. Guess that's what he gets for making spur of the moment decisions, huh?

"Well, I wouldn't say _everyone_, but people did start getting _pretty_ upset when you and Hungary didn't show up." Taiwan waved her sleeve around, oblivious to America's thoughts. "Not like it lasted long, anyway. You know how it is. They can only stick to one topic for so long before a fight breaks out."

So there wasn't a man-hunt then, he sighed in relief. That's good. America felt his smile broaden at the information. "Haha. Yeah. I can imagine. Anyway, sorry I ditched you back there earlier though, I probably should've…"

Yeah, America didn't mean to leave her hanging like that, but it's still not cool.

"Awww, you're so sweet, Ally. But you're already forgiven!" Taiwan cheerfully assured him as she beamed, to America's relief, her brown eyes sparkling. "I'm just happy you're back!"

You know, seeing Taiwan look so gosh darn happy to see him after the icy reception they got from Iggy and the others… and the disaster that followed… it really warms a guy's heart. He began to feel all his troubles from what happened earlier melt away and go back to feeling more and more like his old self again.

"Man… Thanks, Tai." America sent her one of his best grins, and Taiwan just seemed to brighten even more. "You know, sometimes I think you're too cool for me, dudette."

"Don't be silly. You'll be always be the cooler one to me!" Taiwan giggled.

Ame

Anyway, happy smiles or not, America still felt bad about what he did. Could he make it up to her somehow?

"Still, I hope I didn't cause ya too much trouble."

"Oh, no, not at all! I mean, I did go around looking for you for a while and I started to get a teensy bit worried," Taiwan told him in a relaxed tone, and then she winked at him. "But then I got over it when I realized that maybe you needed some space after having such a tough day and that you'd come back eventually."

America grinned wide at that, appreciating that someone else understood his need for space too, and then looked on in confusion as Taiwan stared at something behind him.

"Though… I don't know why Hungary's with you." Taiwan raised an eyebrow at America's new gal pal, who was staring at them weirdly without saying a word, a frown on her face as she glanced at America to ask, "Were you two hanging out?"

"Yup, pretty much." America smiled apologetically, trying not to laugh nervously too much. "Let's just say we went out for some fresh air and lost track of time…"

Well, it's technically true.

"…Was pushing Feliks out of the way really necessary?" Hungary deadpanned, finally entering the conversation, while occasionally glancing at the annoyed Poland.

"Hey, he's the one who cut me off in the first place!" Taiwan puffed her cheeks like a cute chipmunk and hugged America's arm tighter. Yup, he's definitely losing feeling in his arm.

"But I'm, like, not done talking!" Poland whined in the background.

"Well, you can wait when Alfie and I are finished having our alone time together!" Taiwan huffed, stomping her foot, before turning back to America with her usual smile and latching on even tighter. In fact, he's pretty sure she's cutting off his circulation… "What do you say, Al? Want to hang out?"

Hanging out with Taiwan? America perked up considerably at the idea. He hadn't thought of that. Yeah, that's an awesome idea! It's the best way to make it up to Taiwan for earlier, he and Hungary will still hang out, and And America will get to have tons of awesome fun with one of his best gal pals and his _newest_ gal pal!

"…Um… Sorry, Taiwan, but Alfred and I were already going to hang out." Hungary interjected, promptly crushing America's glee over his new idea, as she smiled at Taiwan.

Ohhhh… riiiight… America was going to hang out with Liz some more and start explaining to her about how the whole Dark World portal things worked… Man, what the heck was with his memory today?

Taiwan gave Hungary a weird, frownish look. "Since when were you two on a human-name basis?"

"…Since today."

"How come?"

"Does it really matter?"

Taiwan puffed her cheeks again, and she crossed her arms. "Yeah, it does."

They both stared deep into each other's souls, all the while America just smiled at them as he was under the impression that they're having a totally friendly conversation from where he was standing and Poland stared at them incredulously while wondering if he should've brought high-heels today.

"I'm, like, totally lost here." Poland remarked hopelessly, but no one really paid him any mind.

"Hey! Then how about the _three_ of us hang out together?" America suggested cheerfully, being completely oblivious to the atmosphere as always. "Feliks can come too! And then we can all go to Gucci's or something, I heard they're having a sale!"

Poland gasped, staggering back. "They are?!"

"They are!"

"I instantly forgive you for running off with my best buddy, like, mostly." Poland said so quickly that America barely caught what he said and he wrapped an arm around a bemused Hungary. "Come on, Lizzy, let's go shopping!"

Hungary laughed nervously, looking seriously torn right away as she repeatedly glanced back and forth at America and Poland. "Hah… That sounds like fun, Feliks, but I just said that-"

"But, Alfie, I wanted to spend some quality time alone with you!" Taiwan pouted, and she peered up at him with watering eyes. "Come on, you already hanged out with Hungary. Can't you make some time for me? _Pleeeease?_"

Oh no… She's doing the sad puppy look… No one can resist the Taiwanese sad puppy look!

America felt his super solid resolve crumble before those very eyes. Gah, the eyes! He never could resist the power of Taiwan's endless cuteness and she loved to use it way to often whenever America found himself in another of her and China's arguments. Gosh, was this how Allen felt like whenever America gave him the same puppy eyes look?

"Oh, would you look at the time!" Hungary loudly announced with a weird smile as she held out her wrist... which had no watch. "I'm going to be late for my… uh… weekly beating of Prussia! America, come with me so you can help me hold him down! Feliks, you can come and take pictures!"

Wait, that's a thing?

And without even waiting for America's approval, heck, even reaction, Hungary seized the confused American on the wrist and literally started to tow him away… Huh, wondered if this'll become a trend.

"H-Huh? Wait, Liz, what…" America's head darted around, but found out that there's pretty much no getting out of this. He smiled sheepishly at the two gaping nations and awkwardly waved. "W-Well, looks like I'm gonna be pretty occupied, Tai. Guess I'll see ya in a bit, dude! Don't worry, we can hang out-"

"Tick-tock, I've got a Prussia to cockblock!"

"Wh-Wha-? Wait! Alfie, don't go! I just wanna talk to you!"

"Wait! Lizzy! Can't we, like, go to Gucci's first?!"

**This chapter was mostly dedicated to introduce more of the villains and set up some events for the next chapter. Speaking of the next chapter, this chapter and the next few ones will be a semi-arc called 'The Long Week' dedicated to world-building, introducing characters and moving the plot forward while at the same time occasionally focusing on the Light World. I hope you enjoyed it! Please review, if you have a minute.**


	14. The Long Week: Curioser

**Thanks for the reviews! Sorry it took so long again to update. I'll seriously try to improve my update schedule and finish earlier next time. I hope this chapter makes up for it!**

Well, they're here. Now the problem was coming up with a real solid plan.

"…As we've previously stated to you, the four individuals in question are still in the process of being interrogated." One of the guys, D… Oh, wait, dang it, he's not supposed to reveal their names! Let's call him Four-Eyes instead, okay? So, as Four-Eyes was saying… "As we speak, they haven't 'cracked' as of yet, but they are, however, in a state of intense fear and paranoia…"

Cuba couldn't help but cringe. Yup, that sounded like captive Italian spies alright, or at least the ones that're motivated by fear, y'know? As cocky and snobby as that bastard was, he did have the cruelty to back up his threats. And while Italy was surprisingly not the worst boss ever, it should be pretty obvious what the punishment for treason would be…

"…Unsurprisingly, the cause of this hysterical state appears to be none other than the nation of Italy himself." Four-Eyes then revealed with just the slightest hint of discomfort. Even the humans knew to tread carefully around the bastard. "They appear to be under the belief that their leader is watching their every move or something along those lines."

There were a few murmurs from some of the staff, but Cuba only scratched his cheek in bafflement. _Dios mio_, they're _that_ paranoid?

"I may not be an expert on knowing how the personifications work, but is this possible in any sort of way?" Four-Eyes directed this question straight at Argentina, who straightened a little after being addressed, but not enough to move his hair.

"Not that we know of, no. It is a common misconception, but a misconception still." Argentina informed him in a very serious tone of voice, but still having that sense of gentleness that's characteristic of him. "Fear can lead to irrational thoughts, and fear is a tool Italy is all too fond of using. If you'd like my opinion, I think they're just terrified of Italy finding out of their failure, or if they give us answers, experiencing whatever punishment he'd lay out for them."

Argentina bowed his head, his hair mostly sticking to his face as he made sure to hide it well at every waking moment, and hugged his ovenbird plushie to his chest while murmuring what sounded like sympathetic words. Cuba frowned, sometimes Tina was too nice. The rest of the people weren't as sympathetic, but Cuba could hardly blame them.

"I see…" Four-Eyes nodded. "Well, the point is that it's this irrational fear that appears to be preventing any possible cooperation from the agents."

"…Well, I prefer non-violent methods if possible, but…" Argentina scratched his stringy-haired head, before turning towards Four-Eyes. "What exactly have you attempted so far?

"We've tried several methods already, nothing extreme as of yet, mind you, but none have yielded any significant response." Four-Eyes answered gruffly.

Cuba frowned, and he turned his gaze again at the glass and right at the group of Italians. He couldn't help but cringe a little. They definitely looked like they're more likely to die of fear than spill anything.

"Have you tried assuring them that they'll be placed under watchful eye and good safety if they decide to tell us why they're here?" Argentina asked them hopefully, still patting Cuba on the back with one hand and hugging his plushy with another.

"We have, multiple times in fact. But they appear to either not trust us or too terrified of their leader to even consider telling us any amount of information."

"So they still aren't even close to being willing to answer any of our questions?"

"No, sir. And we are currently debating what our next course of action should be…" Four-Eyes inhaled before speaking up again. "…Which brings me to the purpose of this meeting, as well as why the personification of Cuba is here."

Yeah, he had a reason for being here!

"Does anyone have any suggestions or proposals as to what methods we should use next for the Italians?" Four-Eyes scanned the room before his expression hardened further. "And in light of recent _comments_, let me remind you all that anything that involves triggering Argentina's unstable state or asking the Middle Easterners for help is _out of the_ _question_."

Cuba sighed in relief at that. At least most people realized that using Argentina's problems was no good.

He and Argentina both meant it from the bottom of their hearts when they said that the latter's craziness was _not_ a weapon. Screw the bastards that say it could be useful. They know nothing. They don't care about what their nation might feel. They just care about results and themselves.

Putting aside how Argentina would just end up tearing the poor saps' skin off faster that one can say 'Wow guys, we're fucking morons' – that's not even the main _point_, dang it! – it's just plain sick. Didn't that guy realize what Argentina went through back when they were under that Spanish bastard, and the terror he went through every day that there's a teeny tiny chance he might accidentally drop the ovenbird and go nuts?

And now a human wanted their beloved leader to make a use out of it? Make a use out of the way Argentina's mind completely breaks into a millions pieces, makes him miserable and feel the pain of the scars of his messed up childhood, and slaughters all the people around him in ways that'd make that sadistic maniac Portugal swoon?

Yeah, yeah, maybe he's making a big deal outta this, maybe he wasn't, but the point was that there had to be another way to make these guys spill, and make sure they spill the _truth_, without having to resort to _that_.

Cuba had no idea if Italy or the spies were expecting Tina to resort to that to get information. Well, if they did, then they would've cracked by now 'cause everyone knew that a wild Argentina was bad news. So, they probably think that…

…Waaaaaiiit a minute…

Suddenly the light bulb above Cuba lit up, triumphant music played in the background, and he felt a huge grin on his face.

"Erm… Max…?" Argentina called him nervously, knowing what the excited look on Cuba's face meant. "Are you… all right…? What are you thinking about…?"

"Oh, I'm more than all right, Santi." Cuba snickered evilly as he rubbed his hands together. After all, he's _El Maximo_."I just got an idea~"

Argentina's shoulder slumped, a sweatdrop evident even with that mop of hair. "Oh dear…"

That ended up killing most of Cuba's enthusiasm. "Don't 'oh dear' me, Santi! You know I do have my genius moments, and this could be one of them!"

"I am aware that you're a genius, but I've never really liked that look in your eye…" Argentina voice warily, shaking his head at Cuba. "You always have the same look when you think you're finally going to conquer your smoking allergy."

Cuba. He just had to mention his worst embarrassment in front of these guys, didn't he? "Hey, I'll get over it! I mean, someday!"

"Again, we're definitely going to need to stage another intervention, I'm afraid…" Argentina murmured, and Cuba fell into a depressed slump. "But you can also have good ideas, Cuba, so I'm all ears."

Now that brought him up to a good mood again.

"If you've got an idea, then we'd really like to hear it." Four-Eyes spoke up, although to Cuba's irritation, he looked just as skeptical as Tina did. Come on, why was it so hard to believe Cuba's a genius? "So this better be good."

"It is, trust me! Okay, first off, let me remind you all that unleashing Tina on these jerks is a baaaaad idea." Cuba crossed his arms and shook his head… Maximo style! "And if anyone tries to insist on doing that, or try, and you'll find yourselves getting the infamous Texas wedgie from America."

Several of the people here shuddered at the mention of the rumored extremely painful move. It's right up there with the All-American Nut Punch and the Red, White and Blue Drill when it came to ouchiness, you know.

"BUT!" Cuba exclaimed, startling several of the people in the room again, "It's given me an idea. See, what if we pretend that we'll unleash Argentina on them if they don't comply?"

Cuba let the people here several seconds to let the depths of his genius sink in and realize what a truly decent idea it was before he looked back at Argentina, who was staring at him without saying a word.

"Santi, I know we both agree that your craziness is not a weapon, but we're not using it as a weapon. And it'll be a one-time thing, I promise." Cuba said in a serious stone before trying not to break into a full-blown grin again as he sent his longtime friend a reassuring smile. "Think, if we can trick these _pendejos _into believing that we won't hesitate to unleash you because the situation's that important, then they'll crack like an egg!"

Silence. Dead silence in the face of Cuba's sheer genius! Or at least that's what Cuba's hoping, 'cause he really couldn't tell if the looks everyone were giving him were 'Dios Mio, this guy is an idiot' or 'Holy Shit, this is genius!' kind of looks.

Man, while it was useful, sometimes it was kinda annoying having that hair covering most of his face. Sure, it'd be hard not to stare if Argentina let his face show for the whole wide world to see (and he didn't like doing that), but sometimes it's hard to tell what Argentina's feeling.

"It's simple, really." Cuba tried to assure him with a shiny smile, except he kind of forgot to brush his teeth this morning. "It'll just be- Hey! How about those spare birds you keep in the car? Maybe you can grab one and hide the real one on your person."

"He keeps _more_ in his _car?_" Someone whispered to someone.

"Max." Argentina said again but with a firmer tone that made Cuba freeze and stop what he's doing. To Cuba's surprise, "It's all right, really. I'll do it, no objections."

Cuba wasn't expecting _that_ answer, especially. He blinked, and then he gawked. "Wait, you actually don't mind?"

"It's for an important cause, Max. We have no time to waste." Argentina stated softly, looking pointedly at Cuba before nuzzling his ovenbird against his cheek. "As long as it doesn't involve me dropping my precious friend, or anything extremely immoral, it has my seal of approval."

Cuba smiled gratefully at him. That's Argentina for you, one of the most considerate and understanding people you'll ever meet.

Feeling a big boost of confidence knowing that Argentina approved, Cuba turned his dazzlingly smile to the rest of the people present. "Alright, boys, listen up good! Here's what we're gonna do…

/ / / / /

Even in the warmth and comfort of his own house, Iceland felt nothing short of depressed.

The blonde with the eye patch over his left eye sighed and slumped back into his big, comfy chair. He curled up in his blankets as he frowned at nothing in particular while staring off out the window. It's dark out. Like, dark _dark_ out. He slipped further into his blankets, frown deepening.

In this world, the sky's always dark no matter what. But people could always rely on the sun to go about their everyday lives without stepping on each other's toes, even though sometimes it wasn't enough for a place like Iceland. It's during nighttime where things would get pretty difficult. The moon couldn't light up the sky like the sun could for some reason science-y reason. It kind of sucked.

And a country like Iceland, who only had a few hours of daylight in the coldest months of the year, it sucked even more.

But that's not why he's all sad and frowny. Who cares about that? He's gotten used to it for centuries. No, no, no! The problem is with, y'know, the Italy situation, as everyone's basically calling it. Or for the more grumpy negative nations: The beginning of the end.

Gosh, why do people have to be so negative?

Well, it's not like Iceland's being that much better than them. But he's more depressed than pessimistic, pessimism's for clowns. I mean, of course things will get better eventually… right?

Iceland shivered, feeling very cold all of a sudden, and his place could be one of the coldest places you'll ever find.

Golly. One week and Iceland's missed the good old times already.

But that thought caused some old memories to resurface, and Iceland felt his face break into a wide fond smile. Ohhh, boy. The things he'd do to relive old times again! Too bad most of them were illegal.

Iceland sighed dreamily. Ahhhh…. It felt like it was _only_ like eighty years ago… maybe because it was eighty years ago, but whatevs! He'll never forget the adventure where not only did he make his very first real bad guy friend, but his very first real good guy friend! Not to mention the rest of the clowns too! Not only did he finally have made friend with people that appreciated his art of villainy, but they helped him improve his life a _lot_.

And it all did with one thing. The bane of all evil, the worst pesticide for any villainous urges, the dangerous spell that even Big Brother didn't have a counter for, the very thing any true villain despised with a fiery passion…

_Kindness._

Ohhh, Iceland tried to stay strong for the sake of their evil team, his very first evil team no less, but the power of kindness and the promise of Romano teaching him how to get a better haircut was too much! No one's ever complimented his eye patch before, or ever told him that his endless cheerfulness was truly admirable!

So, after feeling that warm fuzzy feeling in his heart that his big brother's warned him about for so long, Iceland then became a good guy!

And then after jumping through hoops and nearly helping cause the apocalypse, he got accepted into the Clown- I mean, Trinity Alliance! Cool, huh?

Well… Um… It wasn't all warm and fuzzy. And the whole journey wasn't… _completely_ cool all the way. Iceland practically got kicked out of the Nordics when he officially sided with the enemy. Big brother hated him now. Not that ever paid that much attention to Iceland in the first place, but still. And a bunch of other stuff happened too, but that's some reminiscing for another day.

Iceland wished he and everyone else could forget about this whole situation, or that it'd magically disappear like Norway's love for him.

Even when people smiled and laughed as they tried to just forget about that and have fun before the next close call came around, no one could truly really forget all the troubles and problems in the world of politics. They could distract themselves, but they, the nations, couldn't forget. No matter how much they wanted to.

But it's not like he's selfish or anything. He totally understood how important and fragile the situation was and what would happen if... i-if things fell apart. It's actually something Iceland's trying hard not to think about. And it's not like it's something that's not haunting him on a daily basis too. Couldn't you see he's worried too?!

Iceland wanted to do something, he wished that there's something he could do about it instead of curling up in his blankets and be all wishy-washy while America's dealing with all the stress and pressure.

Iceland sniffled. But what _could_ he do?

/ / / / /

Well, well, it looked like Argentina was right to send everyone that message.

If Lithuania didn't know any better, he'd say he spied with his little eye some sneaky spies that need to die.

Heh. Well, how about that? That rhymed. Wonder if America would like that one.

The dark-haired Baltic smirked, but the expression morphed back into a narrow-eyed stare accompanied by a scowl as he spied through his binoculars. No, this wasn't the time to start cracking jokes, even if he did have a habit of becoming a little unhinged whenever he's angry. It was already out of character for him. This was serious. And he's truly pissed at these dumbass humans, too much to even make a humorous remark or anything like that.

With this in mind, Lithuania pulled down his cap and, his eyes fixed on the small group of humans currently too absorbed into their little argument to even care to worry that someone might be following them. He sneered. Typical humans; always guided by their emotions and nothing else.

Also, he _really_ wanted to fight someone, preferably those little shits down there since they think they're oh so brave for breaching his country's security for unknown ends. Yes, some gratuitous bloodshed and as America would put it 'asskicking' would definitely put him in a much more agreeable mood.

But no… no, no, no, no, that wouldn't exactly be the wisest course of action. If he attacked now in a blind and reckless rage, one might slip by and notify Italy. And they couldn't have that now, could they?

No. The wise thing to do would be to wait in the shadows and follow those stupid Italians until he saw the perfect opportunity to _strike_. Besides, it'll be the perfect chance to observe these spies and see what their goal was. He might get answers that a direct interrogation wouldn't give him.

Distractedly, he wondered if the Trinity Alliance were the only one's dealing with this crap. Sure, they're the biggest obstacle in Italy's path for conquest and whatnot, but they're not the _only_ obstacle. Russia was just as big of an enemy toward Italy as, say, America was, even though they've clashed less times than the latter two did.

Lithuania sincerely _hoped_ Russia or Poland's going through the same thing, it'd at least give him some comfort that they won't be able to sit back and let the 'good guys' go through all this trouble or suffer. The thought of that mental image made Lithuania see red for a brief moment, and his hands briefly went to his sword, before he inhaled sharply and calmed himself before he'd do something he'd regret.

Lashing out or destroying anything he found while in a rage won't do him any good. He had learned that a long time ago. But why did it have to feel so tempting and easy to do…?

Hell, even being told that Belarus was going through this trouble would give him some comfort. Although, with her level of intelligence, she won't be able to do a thing about them without worrying about what 'big brother' will think.

He sneered hatefully at the thought of that woman. He never liked her, that oh so poor, massively delusional, ridiculously stupid and annoying waste of space. Words truly couldn't express how much she wanted to see her burn as everything fell apart around her and the realization that everything in her made-up fairytale land was just that, not real, slowly and painfully killed her. It'd serve her right for what she-

Lithuania almost jumped when he heard his phone ring. "Wha-"

Someone was calling him now of all times? No, scratch that. Why's it even ringing?! Dammit! He could've sworn he put it on vibrate! Whoever's calling better have a damn good reason for almost blowing his cover.

He threw a quick anxious glance at the humans. Lithuania was situated at a far enough distance to not attract any attention from the humans. Still, noise was noise. And noise could obviously be detrimental to a stealth mission. So, he felt himself pale as he hastily tried to get it to shut up.

Lithuania checked the number,

"What do you want, Latvia? I'm busy here, you know!"

"Nice to hear from you again too, Leonas," Latvia grumbled sarcastically. "God, it's no wonder your social life is virtually nonexistent."

"What do you want?" Lithuania gritted it out through his teeth whiles his eyes flickered over to his targets.

"Oh, relax. It's important, honest." He could just see Latvia roll his eyes as he said that, but that past part did manage to grab his attention. "I'd get Estonia to do it for me, but you know he's hopeless with technology."

Lithuania was sure he heard Estonia bark 'Am not!' in the background, but he ignored that. "What do you mean, important?"

"I'll do that in a short moment. First, allow me to entertain you with the _backstory_."

Lithuania barely kept himself from groaning loudly for the whole town to hear. "No. You're terrible at giving exposition, and my targets are getting away from me. Unless it's something that really needs my attention, you can save it for later."

"It _is_ important." Latvia hissed.

"Then get to the damn point." Lithuania hissed back.

"ALRIGHT!" Latvia shouted in Lithuania's ear, and he had cringe away from his neighbor's delightful voice while checking if anyone heard that. "Well, since you're so adamant on supporting the Alliance and Italy's becoming even more unbearable than usual, Estonia and I have been doing some digging, preferably to get you out of this mess as soon as possible."

Lithuania tapped his fingers on the phone with a growl. "I thought you said you were going to get straight to the point."

"This is part of the point!"

"Oh, God."

"Oh, _shut up_." Latvia snapped at him, and Lithuania. "And don't think I didn't hear that facepalm! But anyway, we were searching for information, even on the damn computer after Estonia remembered which button was supposed to turn it on. And eventually, we did find something interesting regarding Italy, something you might want to share with your fellow merry men…"

Lithuania listened with full attention. But he found that the more he listened, the more he felt himself too shocked to properly pay attention.

He didn't even listen to Latvia's demands for him to respond. All Lithuania managed was a quick thank you before hanging up.

So... he and Argentina weren't the only ones after all...

"Damn it. I need to share this with the others…" Lithuania muttered to himself as he glanced back to the humans. His hand found its way to the sheath of his sword. But first…

_But first_, he needed to take care of that matter. And just because he's in a hurry, it doesn't mean he couldn't enjoy himself for a little while…

/ / / / /

Oh, my, people's various different gods. Argentina's right! There were Italians here in town! Ooh! Wonder if they brought marinara sauce with them.

Singapore's eyes sparkled as she spied with her trusty binoculars. The Italians were right in one of the apartment rooms, just where she could see them. Good thing they didn't close the drapes, huh?

It's not often that Italians visited her fantastic and _completely_ underrated country. In fact, like, so few Italians ever visit her country period. Hm, it might have something to do that she's one their leader's sworn enemies and Italy might be a little upset to find his people anywhere near them… or maybe's it's all the crowds, the lack of bizarre skyscrapers and the stinky but totally decreasing slums on the outer skirts…

…It's totally the Disneyland thing, wasn't it? Ugh, she _really_ should've fought harder to make it happen!

She didn't get it. Her home's doing, like, awesome progress in the agnostically… er… anesthetic…. Oh! She meant aesthetically pleasing. She's doing a great job improving her country and making it even more aesthetically pleasing! Singapore puffed her chest proudly. How's that for a ditz, eh, Indonesia?

Singapore's been getting a lot of help from the Alliance, especially America, and they've been helping her how to stand on her own two feet too. Even Mister India, that grumpy mean old man, was helping out. Ooh! And America especially had been giving her tons of ideas for architecture projects and how to improve her economy. And guess what? They've been working out pretty well for someone who spent his time beating up people than working on projects!

Wonder why he tried to punch her after she said that in front of him though…

Sure, there's still the problem of a couple slums here and there, the crime rate hadn't lowered in six months now, she's running into a bit of trouble with the ethnic groups, and she's nowhere near as rich like Mister India or Saudi Arabia were… But progress was progress! Singapore just knew that with enough time, everything will be A-Okay!

But, hey, there's more to a tourist spot than weird buildings, amusement parks. Just because she's the size of a speck of dirt (ha-ha, Philippines), doesn't mean that there's not tons of interesting places to explore!

Singapore would even have a lot more time to find new fun places if it didn't get her staff mad over skipping work.

Wait a minute. Her staff… paperwork…

Oh. Right. She ditched morning paperwork to go practicing track, didn't she? Singapore deflated dejectedly to the floor. Aw, nuts! She was so looking forward to trying out that new trapeze move she was working on!

Well, there's only one way to solve this. She's gonna have to stop being a lazy bum, get her ass off the floor and do her job as Malaysia would probably tell her.

Smiling as her mind was made; Singapore retreated a few steps back and got into position. She formed her fingers into a frame and closed one of her eyes as she tried to figure out how much she needed to…

Ah! Yeah, that should do it. She could totally make that jump.

With that knowledge, Singapore then sprinted forwards as fast as her feet could, and as she reached the edge of the roof, she jumped…

The through some acrobatic maneuvering and skills (that was the right way to call it, right), she prevented herself from plunging to her temporary doom…

…And landed right on the porch.

And why didn't she just enter the apartment room the normal easy way which wouldn't need any real effort 'cause she's a nation?

Because that'd be _way_ too boring!

Not wasting any time beaming over her once again success with her dangerous stunts, Singapore shattered the glass barring her from going inside easily with a chair. But by the time she had appeared on the porch, she had already alerted the Italians inside the apartment

Wow. They're _good_.

Didn't really stop from entering inside though. Okay, time to greet the villains!

"Hello, _ni hao_, and_ apa kabar!_ I am the wonderful and amazing Singapore!" Singapore proclaimed with her loud voice beaming with pride while puffing her chest. She then grinned mischievously and pointed her index finger at the scared humans… dramatically! "And you are _all_ enemies of the Trinity Alliance work for that jerk Italy."

Wow, she sounded so cool!

"So, prepare to be brought to justice!" She declared as she shifted her non-dominant foot, preparing to lunge, as her grin turned into a sheepish smile. "…And quite possibly be crippled for the rest of your lives! I tend to get a little carried sometimes."

But hey, if it did happen, then it's just part of their karma, right?

"Anyways… HI-YAH!"

/ / / / /

Whenever a personification came to mingle amongst their populace, either by having a friendly outing with their citizens as if they were an old friend to simply going out for a stroll, it was usually regarded as an interesting sight, even if catching their nation out in public happened to be common occurrence.

It was understandable to see why. They're practically celebrities, no, they're more than that. They're the leaders of their respective countries, and their word was law. They're strange beings of unexplained conception, some of which even had powers that evaded human understanding. The only details that were common knowledge were that they were immortal, meaning they'll always come back after getting killed, and that they represented the land and people.

They're a mystery, and their entire survival and well-being depended on these beings. One really couldn't but wonder what their nation could be doing at this time of day.

Then there's how the wide range of personalities and/or appearances of the national personifications of the world.

So, the humans in the area of where would have different reactions to seeing their enigmatic or weird leaders out in the open like a normal person. The usual reaction was stares, but it also depended on the reputation and the nation itself. The nation could be the greeter warmly by their citizens, or be met with wary or curious stares and suspicious murmurs...

For the inhabitants of Kuwait City, it was certainly the latter.

Walking at a leisurely and patient pace as the humans either stared in curiosity, confusion, awe or contempt, or whispered amongst themselves, Kuwait spared none of them a glance as he went on his daily stroll, this time into the more populated parts of his capital instead of an emptier place. He wore his usual blank expression

Hmm... It really was a nice day out.

Kuwait would've smiled pleasantly if he could, but his expression remained just a blank. However, if one looked closely, there was now a softness in his sole visible eye.

Yes. Eye. No plural.

His very appearance drew stares even from the people already used to him, but he didn't mind. He didn't quite blame them either. The nation itself knew that he looked... unusual. Kuwait looked like a young man, only a couple years above what his people considered the age of majority despite his real age. However, that wasn't the strange part... or at least that's what Kuwait hoped. He didn't forget to wipe the hot cocoa off his face again, didn't he...?

Good Iblis. That'd be just embarrassing. Bahrain would never let him hear the end of it.

Blinking twice, the Arab nation abruptly stopped his walk and robotically turned around, weirding out some spectators in the process, and checked his reflection on the glass of a store window, ignoring the startled customers and employees inside.

Nope! No chocolate. Kuwait made a pleased sound and turned back into his previous direction and continued on his merry way, happy with this knowledge.

Ah... Where was he? Ah, that's right, his appearance. Well, it's kind of unorthodox. But it's nothing disturbing. He resembled the rest of his family, particularly his brothers, in their complexion and facial structure, even sharing the same eye color as them. It was evidence that he really was related to his wonder big brother. His hair was unkempt and beginning to grow into medium-length right past his chin. Hm. Should he get a haircut…?

And that's where the normal part ends and the strangeness came in. To start, he had an eye patch over his left eye. It looked pretty cool on him in his opinion. Also, his right arm and his legs had long since been replaced by steel, stronger versions of them. So, that's _probably_ why he stood out in a crowd.

You can thank an incident from back in the early years of his colonization for that, one that Kuwait was more than content to not think about. But big brother was kind, generous, despite how Kuwait didn't really trust him until that point. Yes, his big brother's truly kind, even to someone as undeserving of that said as Kuwait.

That was one of the main reasons why he didn't care what his or anyone's humans thought of his unnatural appearance. He did not care what anyone thought of it, except for his elder brother himself. No. Kuwait was _proud_ to have the physical proof of his elder brother's boundless compassion and goodwill permanently remain a part of him, as well as to show his triumph over his past struggles and traumas.

And, well, there's not much point in getting attached to humans. While Kuwait did encounter the occasional outstanding good citizen and end up befriending the person despite it all, it'd be better if he didn't spend so much time becoming close to them.

"Look, papa! Look! It's Kuwait!" A little human boy squealed in delight for some reason as Kuwait walked by the little human, his Saluki dog and his parents.

Said nation ignored the child and kept walking with his gaze set in front of him, steel boots clanking with each step, despite how the little human child kept calling and waving for his attention. Kuwait had nothing against children, but he did not feel compelled to respond to the little one.

As Bahrain would say, they're nations, not celebrities. They're not crowd-pleasers, they're leaders and protectors.

"Hmph. Don't even bother, son." Kuwait heard boy's father harrumph and the nation managed to catch the man giving him a look of disdain. The nation was unbothered. "Kuwait doesn't listen to voices of the people. Now come on, we need to grt going."

"But Khalil-"

"No. It's it own fault for wandering off."

"But Mama, I don't want to leave-"

"We don't have time to catch that little mutt. We're going to be late for..." And the voices trailed off as they vanished from Kuwait's hearing range.

But that wasn't the end of it.

Kuwait's attention was finally grabbed when he felt something soft, furry and fluffly brush his boots, but he wasn't startled. He merely blinked in dull surprise when he saw the puppy from earlier pant and bark excitedly at him.

Kuwait's lips twitched, which was the same as a smile to anyone in his family. A doggie. A doggie had ran up to him. It's fluffy, poofy, and adoraboofy.

But he shouldn't get carried away. The doggie needed to be returned to its owner. Kuwait may ignore humans, but he wouldn't ignore them if there was real trouble. So, he walked over to the family, who already spotted him coming.

"I believe this is yours?" Kuwait asked unnecessarily, and he handed the cute pooch back to the awed child.

"Khalil!" The boy squealed as he took the dog from Kuwait. "Thank you, Kuwait!"

"It's a cute doggie." Kuwait commented earnestly with a twinkle in his eye in spite of the lack of emotion on his face.

"He is! Papa and mama let me keep him, even if he has to stay outside. But he's a great friend!"

"I'm sure he is."

Now then, it wouldn't do well if he left without parting a piece of advice. Although their demise was inevitable, it didn't mean they couldn't improve.

"And you, please refrain from doing irresponsible things in the future, regardless if you're in my presence or not." Kuwait coldly admonished the two adults, who cringed in fear. "I know it's forbidden for Muslims, but shouldn't treat your son's beloved friend so indifferently. And you would do well as parents to respect your child's decision to have a dog as his pet, especially seeing how he truly cares for it."

The two humans were too stunned, and maybe terrified, to respond or even much less retort to their nation. Kuwait gazed down again at the child and gently patted him on the head.

Children liked to be patted, right? Or was it horses…?

Regardless, Kuwait turned his back to them and went back on his merry way. He overheard the boy's excited squeals along with his parents fumbling on their words, but Kuwait didn't look back and went back to ignoring everyone around him again.

Not along as he continued on his stroll through the city, he heard a ringing in his head. Stopping in a more secluded location, Kuwait pressed two fingers to his ear.

"You are currently speaking to Kuwait. How may I be of assistance?" Kuwait intoned emotionlessly.

His ears caught the sound of shifting clothes and nervous murmurs. Kuwait immediately deduced who it was just as a nervous feminine voice spoke. "Do… Do you really have to talk like that, brother?"

"Ah. Salam, Qatar." Kuwait greeted politely with the same lifeless tone, although there, provided from the warmth to speaking to a family member. "How is your day?"

"S-Salam, Kuwait. But Please– Wa-Wait, how's my day?" Qatar repeated with something akin to surprise, and Kuwait would say she almost sounded overjoyed. "As a matter of fact, I-I'm doing great! I had little paperwork to do today, so I've had most of the day to myself!

Kuwait listened patiently and nodded along to Qatar's tale about her day, which sounded quite pleasant, especially for someone so busy like her. Whenever she's happy, she really liked to talk a lot, which while wasn't a problem for him, it was for some of their other siblings.

"But wait! That's not what I called you for!" Qatar suddenly exclaimed in obvious distress, to which Kuwait didn't even flinch to. "I'm sorry for rambling. It's just that this is important and-"

"What is it that you want to tell me?" Kuwait cut her off, preferring to get straight to the point before Qatar could go off rambling again.

"Well... I-It's about elder brother..."

"Hm?" Kuwait's visible eye blinked and he automatically pressed two fingers at his temple. His expression remained exactly as blank, but there suddenly an intense life in his eye. "Akh…?"

"Y-Yes. He wanted me to inform you that he'd like us to..."

...

"Understood. I'll be right there in an hour."

"H-Huh? Oh, that's sweet of you, but I was about to... Wait, you don't mean-"

"Yes. Please don't worry about me, I'll be careful not to crash into any planes.

"No. NO! Kuwait, please remember what happened the last time you-"

"Thank you for notifying me of this, Qatar. Goodbye."

"KUWAIT, NO-"

Beep. He ended up the call and stared up at the sky. It's time for Kuwait to blast off again.

/ / / / /

Gillen had absolutely no problem with spending the rest of the day helping Flavio better accept his decision to stay here and comfort him in his time of need. The same could of course be said for Allen.

For friends, especially for someone he considered family; he would do just about anything.

Unlike Allen, Gillen didn't feel anger and. Sadness, yes, along with other similar emotions. But he could never resent Flavio for not bringing himself to let go of his love for his brother and his guilt about the past, despite how it wasn't his fault that Italy was the nation he was today.

It would be hypocritical for him to do so, as despite how Gillen had since (mostly) given up, he too held a lot of regret and self-loathing for his brother turned out.

Germany was always and likely always will be Gillen's biggest regret. He never could understand what went wrong, or why things had to turn out the way they did. There were even times where Gillen wondered if it was even really he who was responsible, which was what Allen seemed to think so. But it always haunted him, pained him.

Could be there be another reason, buried deep down in his brother, that Gillen hadn't fathomed? Sadly, there's a chance he'll never know what it was, if there was one in the first place.

Gillen supposed that Allen harbored a similar feeling regarding his own brother, the feeling of regret and crushing failure, except the younger nation did the one thing neither Gillen or Flavio ever managed to bring themselves to do: He discarded what regret he felt, which never lasted quite that long in the first place, disowned his twin, and replaced what little compassion or love he had for him for scorching **_hatred_**.

Allen never seemed to lament over his relationship with Canada, not even once, instead preferring to spit at his name and curse his neighbor's very existence. It probably wouldn't be that surprising for one, since Allen had a much larger capacity for hatred and anger than Gillen or Flavio will ever have.

Still, despite the differences, they couldn't deny that they understood each other. They all knew what it was like to have a brother that they felt they disappointed.

He- _Both_ of them did their very best to support and comfort Flavio in his sorrow and grief, even as much as Allen liked to think he was no good at 'that mushy kind of stuff'. The redhead would provide words of encouragement or 'pep-talk', even if it sometimes riddled with curses and Flavio weakly pulled his ear for it, while Gillen would do what he's always done in all the years he's been friends with Flavio and reassure him that everything will be alright.

Eventually all their hardships had to end eventually, right?

Gillen pondered over all this as he cleaned the dishes. At first, Flavio had insisted to do them instead, if only to distract himself, but Allen figured it'd be better if he tried his usual methods of cheering his older brother figure up and dragged him away as far away from anywhere with knives as possible.

He didn't necessarily want to do this. Gillen would much rather be there for Flavio. But he might as well clean up so that they'll have free time.

He would've finished it in a few minutes, if he didn't hear the living room phone ring. Gillen froze in the middle of putting some plates away, and he looked around, then remembering that Allen and Flavio were in another floor and likely couldn't hear the phone.

Who could it be this time? A part of Gillen hoped it was Alfred, possibly having forgotten something, since God knows that his positivity could really help Flavio out. But he pushed such thoughts away, dried his hands, and went to answer the phone.

"You are calling America's residence. This is the nation of Prussia speaking." He spoke politely.

_"Oh, Prussia? Is that you, old chap?"_

Gillen nearly stumbled in shock at the unexpected voice that reached his ear. It was a voice he never thought he'd hear these days.

_"E-England?"_ Gillen practically found himself growling, something usually reserved those he especially resented.

_"Yes, it is I! How have you been, Gillen_?" The Englishman's chipper voice greeted with gleefully, and Gillen could just see the smile the man was no doubt wearing right now. _"I was actually hoping for Allie to pick up… But you know what? There's something wrong with chatting with an old friend."_

Disgusted, Gillen refused to play along and went straight to the point. "What do you want, England?"

_"What?"_ England squawked, sounding mockingly offended. _"That's what you want to ask me? No, 'I'm doing well, Ollie, how about you?', or 'Why, just peachy, Oliver? How has life been for you? Made any new recipes?"_

"Ah, I deeply apologize. Allow me to rephrase my earlier question," Gillen cleared his throat, and spoke darkly. "Tell me, England, what reason could you have for calling me that won't make my hang up immediately?"

_"Well! Touchy, are we?"_ England giggled horribly, and Gillen grimaced.

"I am serious, England. What could-"

_"Oh, calm down! It's just a bloody phone call, not an attempt on your lives and sanity!"_ The Englishman suddenly snapped at him, startling Prussia, who mused that in hindsight, he should've expected such a reaction from him. After a moment of silence, England's giggling was heard. _"Ah, sorry about that, got a little exasperated there. But anyway, I do have a very good reason for calling, Gillen."_

"And what would that be?" Gillen demanded coldly.

_"Why, allow me explain! To begin with, I think Italy is becoming a lot more reckless than we ever could have foreseen."_

/ / / / /

To Cuba's surprise (not!), his little plan worked.

The people they rounded up here were no pushovers, Cuba'll give them that. But they still looked terrified more than anything else, and it sure as hell wasn't at Tina or Cuba's imposing figure. It's Italy. Not that Cuba could really blame them. That guy kept them in line with fear, and there's no doubt that he's shown his humans what would happen to them if they ever betrayed him…

But none of that would matter if they knew what Argentina was capable of and saw that there's no way they'll hesitate to let him loose on them, _wink wink_. It's so bad that no one's who's ever seen what he does could ever explain it without… y'know… breaking down.

Seriously, someone actually thought that's a good idea?

"Please, believe me when I say that I'm enjoying the situation we all are in right now." Argentina spoke up softly to the group of Italians tied to chairs, his hands clasped together as if he's pleading someone to forgive him. "I don't like torture. I don't like hurting people in any way. And I definitely don't like how terrified you all are."

Cuba watched Argentina say his usual last offer for a non-violent, all the while trying his best to look cool and, y'know, just stand there… _menacingly_. Did he look menacing enough? Yeah, he totally looked menacing enough.

"I do mean it when I say that we'll do our best to provide you with high security. I know you've already been told by the other agents, but remember that we'll provide you with protection if you work with us here. We'll make sure that Italy never manages to assassinate you or anything of the sort.

Argentina paused, stopping to take a deep breath. Cuba reckoned that his buddy's a little nervous about the role he had to play here. If they wanted this plan to work, it's obvious they had to make it look completely convincing. Make them think they'd actually go _that_ far for information.

Cuba just hoped they'll believe that Argentina's wrath was worse than Italy's.

"It pains me to say this… But if you refuse to comply with our demands, then you'll leave me no choice." Argentina bowed his head even lower, and for a moment, Cuba could've sworn he caught of glimpse of pearly white teeth clenched together. "I'll have to go berserk, go on a rampage and strangle the answers I want out of you…"

To emphasize his point, Argentina wrapped one of his hands around his own neck, squeezing it so much that it started to worry Cuba.

"I think you should know what that means. Everyone does." Argentina whispered harshly.

"Si, surely you've heard of Tina's legendary rampages." Cuba felt the corners of his mouth curl up in a mischievous grin, while Argentina shared none of his eagerness. "You know how it goes. Some poor human messes up and causes Argentina to lose or drop his stuffed _amigo_, and then what happens? _Snap_. His mind _snaps_, that's what."

"Si, si… _CrrrrRACK!_ CRUNCH! SNAP! That is the sound you hear when your mind breaks… before it falls apart completely." Argentina said eerily, as if he was simply listing off a simple fun fact, while playing with his spare ovenbird. Cuba's grin became a little strained at just how creepy Argetina was being.

O…Okay, Tina? Tina? You're doing great, but… could you tone it down a little? You're creeping out even the head of the interrogation. Plus, Cuba was pretty sure that one of the Italians just wet themselves… and shit themselves… _Yuck_.

"And it all happens in the span of seconds before…" Argentina trailed off, cocking his head to the side with his visible eye as wide as it could be. "…Before the _real_ crack, crunch and snap begins. Before the carnage begins."

Trying not to gulp, Cuba pushed down his nerves and grinned at the humans, who were thankfully as close to shitting their pants as he was. "Well? What's it gonna be, _muchachos?_"

Argentina dug into his pocket and brought one an ovenbird doll – the 'fake' ovenbird doll – and held it out.

Come on…

Argentina's grip on it started to loosen, and the humans screamed at him to stop.

This had to work.

One by one, Argentina slowly started removing his fingers from his fingers.

It just had to.

The screaming were getting louder. The only thing stopping the ovenbird from plummeting to the floor was two fingers grabbing its wing.

Almost…

Argentina lifted it up further, making it look like he's finally gonna-

"THE RUINS!" One of them, brownish, probably full-blooded Sicilian, guy cried out miserably. "The R-R-Ruins of Quilmes! _He_ wanted us to go investigate the- the- the ruins!"

Silence fell on the room right after that confession. Cuba took a glance toward Argentina, and his buddy was scary still as a statue, his visible eye looking even creepier than usual. With good reason too, Tina had a very personal history with that place.

"…What about the Ruins of Quilmes?" Cuba asked baffledly, scratching his chin. What the hell would Italy want _there?_

**Hope you enjoyed! Please review, if you have a minute.**


	15. The Long Week: A Revelation (or not?)

**Thanks for the reviews! God, I really am bad at this... But things keep popping up and I don't understand why I just can't keep up a consistent schedule. Still, for next time, I'm positive I'll have a lot more free time to write. Sorry for the shorter chapter, but I hope it makes up for the wait anyways. Now, on with the show!**

Gillen felt his trembling right hand grasp and clutch the cross hung around his neck, an action that was usually the only manner to keep his calm and not give in to his… unsavory emotions.

It was no secret nor mystery that Gillen had no love for England, a nation who not only was among the most psychotic and deadliest nations in the entire world, but was responsible for more than, not to mention the utter torment he put Allen through all the years he lived under his rule…

Gillen felt resentful and angry likely as any person would have, though he always tried not to let these feelings taint him, as remaining bitter wouldn't do anyone favors no matter how Allen might disagree. But how could he not feel disgust toward this... this creature wearing humanoid skin? How could he not feel angry on his friends' behalf?

While he held no fear towards the man, it would be foolish to be completely blunt and hostile. England appreciated 'good manners' above most things, though his definition seemed more on the line of submissiveness. He must be careful with his words. But at the same time, he will not act submissive and imply that England had any hold over him.

In the microscopic chance that England did or is considering assisting the Alliance, Gillen would never be able to forgive himself if they lost some - _potentially_\- good help thanks to him.

First, he must try to see England's intentions. Then he could judge and decide whether to take England's words to heart.

"Forgive me, but I fail to see how that is a new development. Italy has already been acting conspicuous for the past week." Gillen finally replied blankly, unfortunately failing to not sound at least a little deadpan in his tone. But he doubted England would get incensed over that, despite his bipolar nature.

Luckily, if England appeared to take offense to this, it didn't appear to show, as he laughed. _"Oh, that's because you and your **delightful** motley gang of merry men haven't seen the way he has acted beyond the meeting, except for maybe Flavio, but we all know he's not… **smart** enough to ever accept it as reality."_

England laughed at that, as if he had just made an amusing remark and they weren't having a tense conversation at all and didn't just insult Gillen's friend to his face…

Gillen felt his anger rise, but he knew a lot better than to give England bait, so he concentrated on the main topic at hand. "Are you saying that you've been meeting with Italy?

"Hm. Not exactly, Gilly." England had the decency to sound slightly more serious. _"But I **have** spoken to him for a grand total of three times, each conversation proving to be more interesting and suspicious than the last. And it was the very last one where I decided that I simply cannot stand idly by."_

That statement helped calm Gillen's anger somewhat, and it was more replaced with the feeling of curiosity. He couldn't fathom just what… words or actions could've unnerved England – England to the point that he'd go to Gillen, ergo the Alliance, for help… if this wasn't actually a ruse, of course.

_"I have very good reason to believe that Italy is planning something dire, oh, very dire indeed!"_ The pink Brit exclaimed overdramatically, and if Gillen was a gambling man, he'd wager that England was probably making exaggerated gestures even though neither could see the other. _"So dire to the point I haven't even baked a single pastry in a whole day! It's unbelievably dreadful, I tell you."_

"And... what exactly from these alleged conversations led you to believe that the situation is alarming enough to the point contacting us?" Gillen asked skeptically, though curious.

England giggled, a terrible, grating noise that Gillen hated as much as anyone else did. _"Oh, Gil, you silly, silly old chap! That would be telling!"_

Gillen's hand gripped the cross even tighter, even feeling his knuckles turning white. "…You are not exactly making yourself look any less suspicious, England."

_"Well, Gilly, sometimes you have to give people the benefit of the doubt."_ England said merrily, with more high-pitched giggling flooding the annoyed Gillen's ear before it abrupt stopped, and his became low. **_"Besides, these days you can never really know if you're being watched…"_**

Gillen couldn't hold back a flinch. "E-Excuse me?"

_"Why, I was just saying that sometimes you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, Gilly."_ The madman went on as he never said anything remotely unnerving in the first place. Narrowing his eyes, Gillen opened his mouth to object to the change of topic, but the next sentences stopped him. _"As well as how you should always see the best in people. I would've thought a devout Christian such as you would know that better than anyone else."_

If Gillen wasn't feeling particularly irate before, he certainly was now. He felt one of his eyebrows twitch in anger as he felt he clenched his cross even tighter than ever before. Breathe, Gillen. Breathe... Do not get angry. Do not give in to those feelings…

This… if there something that annoyed him or at least tried his patience about his enemies at times, it was when they would try to use his devotion to his religion to their own advantage.

He already had to endure enough of that in the past, thank you very much.

...Apologies. He had a bit of a habit of becoming snarky when he's feeling particularly stressed or irate.

"Even if said gift horse has a disturbing habit of poisoning his guests for no good reason?

_"…Erm, I don't think that's how the phrase works, dear Prussia."_

"That's not the point, England!" Gillen snapped, but he forced himself to stand down. Breathing slowly in an effort to calm himself, he sighed in exasperation. "What I am trying to say but what you seem to be deliberately avoiding responding is the question of why, just why in the name of God Himself should I or anyone else in the Alliance believe a word of your saying?"

_"Because, Gilly, as the saying goes: The enemy of my enemy is my friend_." England calmly responded, the cheer… _mostly_ gone from his voice. But it did little to ease Gillen. _"And I like to think I'm a very, very good friend."_

"I have more than a few dozen cases that could easily prove that opinion incorrect." Gillen practically grumbled.

_"And **that** is your opinion, Gillypoo."_ England chirped dismissively, while Gillen stood baffled by the new nickname. "_Also, I am a spectacular older brother, so of course I would also be concerned for dear Allie's well-being."_

"Even as you poisoned him and made him throw up his insides as you did with so many of your own colonies?" "Children you've scarred for life? And that's not even getting into the heaps of trouble you've given him since his independence. Hasn't it occurred to you that he _hates_ you for a _reason_, England?"

There was a long pregnant pause from the other side of the line after his bold remark. And for a moment, Gillen began to believe that he may have caused England to hang up or go scream into a pantry.

_"Oh, you know how children are, Gillen. Spoiled, naughty, ungrateful_…" England giggled, sounding as chipper as before but now with a darkness lacing his tone. _"Again, shouldn't **you** know that better than most after how **wonderful** your little brother turned out?"_

A borderline animalistic growl almost escapes from Gillen. He will not crush the phone. He will not tear into his palms in frustration. He will not yell and shout at him for daring to touch a sore spot and for the Brit's own hypocrisy.

Breathe, Gillen. Breathe…

"Are you going to keep rudely insulting me or will you finally get to the point'" Gillen very nearly _snarled_.

_"That depends, will you continue to be an ungrateful wanker just like my colonies or will you finally shut up and **listen** to me?"_

Gillen bit out the urge to tell him that he had been listening, but England just never seemed to get to the _point_. However, it'd be best not to add fuel to the fire for now. "…Ja."

_"**Good**. Alas, I won't use too much of my delightful time trying to convince you to trust me. I'm already risking quite a bit just by daring to have a chat with you. Believe me or don't believe, I will try to persuade you, nor force you. That'd just be horribly rude! But I do sincerely hope you do believe in honest intentions… or I'm afraid you'll one day regret very dearly in the future."_

"Would you be so kind as to explain how exactly I might come regret it?"

_"I will gladly do so if you listen to my woeful tale."_

Gillen sighed.

"…Very well, please tell me about Italy's supposed behavior."

_"Wonderful! I knew you'd see reason soon enough, you were always one of the smarter," _Gillen paid no mind to the supposed compliments and made sure to listen closely. _"Well, a couple days ago I was just going about my usual business baking cupcakes and making sure the meat doesn't expire in my lovely abode without a care in the world when I was suddenly alerted to the presence of, and here's where it gets odd, Italians."_

Gillen blinked, instantly baffled yet intrigued. "Italians? Are they so rare in your country?"

No. That couldn't be the reason.

"Or… are you perhaps saying that they were actually…"

_"Yes, Gilly. They weren't just any Italian humans. They were spies!"_ England exclaimed dramatically. "_Rude chaps who think they can just waltz into my home and stick their noses into my business and get away with it. Oh! How utterly rude of them, I'll say…"_

"Spies?" Gillen repeated incredously. In such a time with high tensions such as this, no less? "Are you sure, England?"

_"Positive. Believe me; I am quite disappointed in my nation's own security too…"_

"But- How? Why? Why would Italy…?"

_"I'm getting to that. Patience, my dear Gillen."_ England spoke gently, before continuing in a slightly more serious tone of voice. _"Anyway, naturally, I was both curious and a little peeved because I just discovered this lovely new recipe for a cake that I just couldn't wait to bake. But I went on ahead and investigated anyways and found the culprits. I had the pleasure of bringing them myself in fact. See, my darling chocolate bunny had just invited for a few friends for a visit and so I decided tha–"_

"Please… get to the point." Gillen pleaded in the politest and _not_ exasperated way possible with his free hand rubbed his throbbing head. "There's no need to devote an entire detailed explanation to how you captured the spies and interrogated them. Just tell about your conversation with Italy and how it led you to contact us."

_"Oh, alright… But only because this is important."_ The Brit sighed, thankfully not as annoyed as he normally would be for having been interrupted. "Eventually, Italy showed up at my doorstep after I politely requested his presence to answer for this breach of trust. We ended having a rather heated and messy discussion where he somewhat revealed his plans to…"

England trailed off, leaving a long pause once again, and Gillen was left very puzzled once again.

"And?" He asked, sincerely hoping that England didn't just suddenly decide to end in there.

"Oh dear, it appears I best not share _too_ many details." England muttered eerily. Before Gillen could ask if something's wrong, the madman quickly resumed the conversation. "He revealed his plans to me, and my, are they troubling."

"What are his plans?" Gillen dared ask, hoping for a straight answer.

_"It is to my belief that Italy is searching for several… ancient things for absolutely nefarious reasons. And should he gather them all, well... I think we can kiss our days of laughing and smiling goodbye."_

"…Pardon?"

Italy's searching for relics and artifacts, ones that could potentially lead to a doomsday? Did he hear that right?

"It's exactly what I said. Italy wants ancient thingamajigs for nefarious reasons, and it's up to you to stop him and/or find the items first! Easy as pie! Ooh, and I want to _bake_ a pie!"

N-No, he heard that right. But… But…

Huh?

_"What on Earth are you talking about?!"_

"Why, what do you mean, Gillen? I-I think I practically just spelled out the plot for you – I don't understand the question." England sounded seemed genuinely perplexed. "Are you in a tunnel right now? Is that what's going on?"

What could Italy want with such items? Was England talking about ancient artifacts of some sort? But Italy had never been one to care about history unless it could be useful to him in some way. But according to England, that's, or at least part of, Italy's plan? That's why he sent spies to England's land? It… it didn't make any sense.

…Then again, Gillen did have the fortune of being witness to how dangerous relics of the past could be.

Gillen calmed down, he breathed, there's nothing to gain from yelling. "I don't think I understand, England."

"_I figured as much,"_ England chirped, and Gillen sighed. Did he _have_ to sound so condescending? _"The Italian brothers know, Gilly, at least some of it. If you want to badger someone for answers, badger **them**."_

Gillen blinked. "You mean Flavio? He knows?"

_"Perhaps… But then again, I doubt even Flavio would be silly enough to keep such information to himself, knowing how it might affect his chumps. So, your faith isn't misplaced for once."_

_"However, I also have reason to believe that Luciano plans on sharing his plans with his brother, and then make him cooperate willing or unwillingly."_ England informed him gleefully, dropping yet another bombshell on him. _"So if you want to know the full story and details, find a way to have Flavio receive the information and immediately secure his safety before Italy can take him."_

Gillen nearly found himself stumbling. "Wh-What?!"

"Oh yes, that'd quite the exciting encounter, wouldn't it?"

So Italy did have dark intentions towards his brother after? Did Flavio really not have a clue about Italy's plans?

No, could he even trust any word that England had told him? What if this was all part of an elaborate and horrible trick?

Gillen's hand again grasped the cross around his neck, praying that he'll find the answera for all these questions soon. "But how would you know such a thing? Why can't you just explain to me exactly what you and Italy–"

A 'ding' sound unexpectedly interrupted him. "_Ooh! That was my timer just now. My newest batch of cupcakes should be ready~ I think it's time I hang up."_

"NEIN! You are not going to hang up without-"

_"Ooh, sorry, Gilly, but I'm afraid your dramatic 'no's' can only do so much against simply pressing a button. Goodbye, good chap, I do terribly hope you listen. The fate of the world may depend on it, oh dear."_

"OLI-" "And he hanged up. Of course he did."

He clenched his hand around the phone just the same.

He needed to tell Allen and Flavio about this.

/ / / / /

His guest room in the New York penthouse's actually one of the best bedrooms Flavio ever had.

Yes, yes, while the fabulous décor and amazing view was indeed amazing, it's more than just the superficiality that Flavio adored. It's one of the _many_ pieces of _undeniable_ evidence that his Allie really in fact, a sweetheart, albeit a very bad-mannered one. It was proof of how much Allen cared about him.

Allen went through the trouble of making this room for him, even thoroughly asking him how he would like his guest room no matter how many times he insisted that there was no need. But Allen just snorted at his words and said that he wanted him to feel at home as much as possible.

_Which was totally unnecessary_, Flavio would think to himself with a melancholy smile on his face. _After all, you two are–_

"Hey, you're looking better." Allen's voice cut through his thoughts, and Flavio was met with the sight of his little brother frowning. "Finally ran out of tears to shed, bro?"

The blonde chuckled, though even he had to admit that it was a little forced, and humorless. It sounded rude and insensitive. And if he weren't so depressed, he'd maybe pull his ear for a second or two for that. But Flavio didn't have to look at the obvious concern on his face to know that it's just Allen's way of asking if he's all right.

Flavio offered a weak smile. "Oh, don't worry about me. I'm just- in my thoughts. And I think I'm the one I should be asking that question, Al."

"Worried about how Luci might react." Allen finished for him, rolling his eyes. "Color me surprised."

Flavio couldn't help a frown. "This isn't a laughing matter, Al."

"I know, I know! Trust me, it's not like I haven't thought about it. But guess what? I. Don't. Care." Allen said bluntly, heavily emphasizing those last three words. "What I care about is that you're as far away from that nutcase as possible!"

Flavio bit his lip. "What are you going to do when he decides to look for me? I think he'll know where to look."

"We'll burn that bridge when we get to it, and by bridge, I mean _Luciano_."

_"Allie!"_ Flavio admonished, but despite that, he felt a chuckle escape him. He felt guilt. He felt guilt for feeling guilty.

"Relax!" Allen waved him off, obviously not taking this as seriously as he should. Or did he really believe he could… "Sure, Luci will get pissed and try to bring you back, but there's only so much that bastard can do when you're in my home turf."

Oh, Luciano would do a _lot_ of things to get what he wants. Other than the heartlessness, cruelty and pointless hunger for power that Luci had inherited from that man, he just seemed to have inherited that stubbornness too. Except even that old man…

_No_. He refused to even give any form of compliment to that… that _monster_.

It's not like Flavio hadn't ever thought of what his brother might – _would_ do to his friends.

He actually thought about that a lot, usually in his more somber moments, usually whenever Luci went off on his long tirades about Al, Gil and the rest of the Alliance, along with maybe throwing a demeaning insult towards Flavio or two. Whenever he'd be reminded of the things that might happen because of his passiveness and how all this was happening because Flavio was so stupid, stupid, _stupid-!_

And it's especially come up a lot in his mind these days. But that won't happen. Everything will be A-Okay! And he will _not_ think about that.

_Poor bad-mannered but well-meaning Taiwan suffering radiation poisoning being shoved into a leering Japan's arms and dragged screaming for Allen _butthat won't happen, and Flavio will **not** think about that.

_Nice, kind, welcoming Argentina having his already scarred and ruined face horrified get reduced to nothing but seared flesh, bare teeth and red eyeballs_ but that won't happen, and Flavio will **not** think about that.

_Erszi, ever-kind and understanding, screaming to the high heavens and scratching her tear-stained face until blood drops fell to the ground as she everything she loved and cherished was grinded into nothing as repayment for her kindness to Luciano_ but that won't happen, and Flavio will **not** think about that.

_Lithuania cursing him with his dying breath as his mangled bloodied lower body slowly faded into nothing, his eyes burning with a hatred he formerly reserved for only Russia_ but that won't happen, and Flavio will **not** think about that.

_Allen slowly reduced to nothing, nothing, with the rest of him, crying out his useless big brother's name. Gillen being reduced to a pile of bloody chunks of meat, then into even smaller chunks, then even more until he was nothing than a pile crushed liquefiedpileoffleshinnardsgrindedbonesbloodWhyWhyWhy _but that won't happen, and Flavio will **not** think about that.

_"Pathetic."_ Grandpa's voice hissed in his head, perfectly picturing how the monster would sneer at Flavio's 'weaknesses'. _"Always so much hesitation…" _But Flavio will **not** think about-

"HEY, FLAVIO!"

The blonde jumped and nearly found himself falling off the edge off the bed in shock. "Wh-What?! What is it?"

"You- You-" From Allen's scowl, he looked ready to go on a rant, but he stopped short and his expression became one of concern. "Are you… okay, bro?"

Flavio inhaled sharply, sweat dripping down from his face and his neck. Was he okay? Was he alright? Oh, why did he think about that? How could he think about that

He's fine. Flavio's fine. Allen was fine. Gillen's fine. Everyone else's fine.

Flavio's hands grasped at the covers at his "I'm fine, Allen. Just got lost in thought in my worries, is all."

He tried to laugh, it came out horrible and forced. It hurt him to laugh it off.

Allen looked at him with red eyes narrowed in suspicion (and worry?), and he asked again. "Are you sure? I know I'm not big on comfort and shit, but you can tell me anything."

Tears wanted to prick his eyes, but Flavio held them back, and forced himself to smile no matter how much it hurt. "I'm fine, Allen. J-Just please, drop it."

He almost thought that Allen would then try to pry in for answers, but thankfully, thankfully, he eventually shrugged it off… albeit reluctantly.

"Okay, 'nuff talk." Allen said with finality, and he went over to the massive doors that led to Flavio's massive closet. "Let's see if how much shit you got, see how much I'm gonna have to spend on ya."

Flavio immediately wanted to raise objections, but Allen shut them down before he could even say anything.

"And I swear to Washitong, Flavio, if you tell me I don't have to, I'll put mismatched clothes for a fucking week."

That shut Flavio right up with his mouth pressed tight, eyes wide in absolute horror at the idea. By God! Wasn't it enough that Allen had such a mediocre sense of fashion?

"Why must you be so cruel to me, Allen?" Flavio sniffled, perhaps a little overdramatically. But it's still a serious issue.

America burst out laughing as he threw the closet doors open. "Cruel? Ha! That's rich coming from the guy that pulls my goddamn ear every time I'm being rude."

"Well, since you won't listen to my warnings and etiquette lessons, you hardly leave me a choice, Al."

"Yeah, yeah…" Allen no doubt rolled his eyes and peeked his head inside the closet. "God, I can't see a thing in this…"

He should have just left it there. Flavio could have just laughed along and pretended that his dark grim thought from minutes ago never even crossed his mind. It was so easy. But words flew right out of his mouth before Flavio could stop them.

"Allen, can do you a favor for me?" Flavio asked him in a clear voice.

The boy grunted, and took his head out to look at him expectantly. "Yeah? What do you want?"

Flavio's hands clenched, he tried not to choke on his words. "I promise I'll stay here without complaint – w-without running away or anything silly like that. I promise on my love for you that I will, but I'll only do so if you promise me something."

"If… When my fratello comes to find me, to take me back by force and you and Gil try to stop him," Flavio failed to stop his voice from cracking, from looking pained. He folded his arms, digging his nails into the fabric of his sleeves. "Just promise me that you'll be careful around him, don't rush headfirst like you always do."

Allen stared at him for a long while, not saying a word. He had that unreadable blank look on his face that he sometimes reserved for… certain grim occasions.

Eventually, his expression softened, and he spoke. "I promise. He won't get you, not if we can help it."

Flavio released a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Grazie, Al."

For once, Allen smiled normally. "Anytime, big bro."

/ / / / /

Germany had no time. He had no time to relax, to rest.

Going around barking orders at his men and growling every time he heard an explosion in the distance, he muttered a wide array of insults under his breath and kept his hand close to his holster in preparation for anything.

He's been spending a good part of the night with his men, who keep dying dammit, shortly after the next wave of attacks hit the borders.

What a pain in the ass. He'd pay millions just to stay in his home, taking a nap and remain by himself, but these incidents just kept becoming more and more frequent that Germany didn't actually a choice anymore.

Useless. _Useless_.

These sorts of skirmishes were too common in the more chaotic parts of continents, even with the nations of the Alliance. America and Mexico, Russia and Finland, Belgium and the Netherlands, North and South Korea, England and Spain, even the countries that didn't share borders with each other would sometimes find themselves under attack by some arrogant assholes who think they can–

"HEADS UP, DEUTSCHANGST!"

Germany snapped his head to glare behind him, and he cocked his gun in preparation to shoot the bastard straight to hell. But he saw no one except for his workers, but just for a moment he was sure he caught a shadow vanishing right in his field of vision.

Another noise soon captured his attention, a thumping one to be precise, and he dared cast his gaze down at the ground, where he saw a familiar sphere roll towards him. It was decorated with a star and the telltale caricature drawing of a familiar bespectacled nation _grinning_ maliciously at him with pointy teeth. Also, did he mention that the little piece of crap had a fuse that's close to going off?

"Scheiße…"

It's too late to react. All he could manage was a scream of rage before a boom and screams filled his ears and a bright flash engulfed his vision, sending him flying back from the blast to shit knew where. Then he was met with darkness.

But the fury left his veins even as he fell to unconsciousness. If anything, he felt even angrier.

Damn you. Damn you to hell!

Before he knew it, he slowly opened his eyes to be greeted by flames, a disgusting smell, and the pain of likely second to even third-degree burns on his body. Ignoring that, Germany gritted his teeth and steadily got on his feet, feeling his veins burning with anger.

Then, out of the nowhere, _he_ appeared in that stupid red suit.

"Hey there, Lutz!"

Austria bared his teeth in a hideous smile.

"Wanna play?"

/ / / / /

In gloomy Paris, where the clouds made the city more grim than it already was, sat France in his gloomy old house, doing nothing but living yet another day in his apathy with his cigarette.

He inhaled.

France didn't give a damn how many times England scolded him for smoking and stinking up the air, why the hell should he be bothered? They're nations. They can get lung cancer, and die from it, but not permanently. It made it all the better for him.

He blew out more smoke.

He relished his moments of solitude, away from other nations, especially in these days.

Sneering, he looked out the window resentfully. Oh, how he hated how this week was going. Everyone else was making such a big deal out of everything that's happening with Italy, the self-centered, attention-hungry little brat, far too much even for France's tolerance. Why must those idiots feed his need for attention?

Why must Italy be such delusional brat in the first place?

Ah, France could say he knew the answer, the brat's grandpa as people say. But let him ask this: Was that still any excuse to go on and go mad from failure after failure despite being so strong, acting exactly like the brat he was as a child, and still expect to one day hold the world in his palm? You'd think he'd have learned by now.

But France knew the truth about that brat. And it was this: the brat was already doomed to live and die a failure.

He knew it, and so did a few others, and so he didn't see the point in running around panicking like headless chickens.

America had a brighter future than that brat, and that idiot's short-temper could only take him so far.

France didn't care about any of that. He retired from conquest and such annoying things. He already knew how all of this was going to end. So why bother? He didn't care. He just. Didn't. Care. So, he'll stay here, in his house, where no one will bother him.

He didn't care, as long as they didn't drag him into it.

If they did, then there'd be hell to pay.

/ / / / /

The 'Shadow' or 'Puppet' as others would mockingly refer to him as, or 'Shadow' as he slightly preferred due to it being the name his brother usually used to call him, moved about unseen by the masses.

He sprinted, agile and quick beyond human capability, and hid in the darkest shadows as he went on his hunt. If other people were alerted to his presence, then they might be alerted in turn, and he would _not_ have that. He will not have that.

People – usually – knew better than to involve themselves in matters involving him, especially when he's seen acting on his own without his brother around. People – normally – knew, or at least suspected, what grisly matters 'The Shadow' would be sent on to do by his enigmatic yet fearsome older brother – no, _master_.

In the eyes of the public of this country and by extension his own, he was clearly an enigmatic figure, always standing quietly and loyally by his brother's side, never hesitating to spring into action should his master command it, and whose people had no choice but to reluctantly accept their personification's devotion. Why should they complain? They may have a nation who is and always will be loyal to his brother, but they're prosperous and happy.

To forsake that prosperity, freedom of expression, and peace for the sake of pride would be foolish beyond words. But such was the nature of humans, never satisfied with what they have and insisting on _conquering_…

…He's diverging too much from the main task at hand. He must not do it again, for it might end up distracting him. There was no time to spend his time in his musings when he had a job to do. Musing was for when there he had no task to do or no need to keep an eye on his surroundings for his brother.

Now, this moment and time, was for obeying and completing his brother's orders. Those came first before **anything** else.

So… yes. It's much preferable if he did his utmost best to not be witnessed by anyone. It also helped that he had brother's permission to eliminate any witness who had seen too much.

But no one will see him. Such a thing would bring shame to him, to see his stealth, a talent that his brother had faith in, fail him.

He found them exactly where his brother had told him they'd be. They were hiding in the outskirts, out in the desert. Brother was right. They are cocky, and foolish to think that hiding there wouldn't attract Brother's attention. For this arrogance, they suffer even more pain than what he had planned to.

The Shadow twirled the knife in its hand, stare fixated on his targets.

He did not spare a word to the invaders. He failed to see any need to do so.

He did not even wait and digest their reactions. Screams pierced the air for only a second or two before he silenced them, though not permanently. Blood splattered the walls and the ground. He witnessed the terror in their eyes, and his heart swelled in pleasure. Brother would be pleased if he saw this.

They fell to the ground, groaning and crying like the lowly beings they were.

He wasn't supposed to kill them.

He knew that. The privilege and right to do so was his brother's and his brother's alone unless that same person said otherwise.

The span of time of his hunt allowed him more than enough time to decide how he exactly he was going to torture them in the way that would please Brother the most. And he had indeed managed to think of quite a few, not that his ideas would ever compare to his brother's.

But he swears that he will do his best to not disappoint.

/ / / / /

"Hmph. So, there were a couple of Italian sneaks in my country."

"We've caught them just recently, ma'am."

"Take me to them. I wanna see who exactly I'm gonna sock in the face."

Torture's something Taiwan never really got her jollies out of at any point in her life.

No. Seriously. Not even back in the old days when she was nothing but a cringe-worthy wannabe trying to desperately impress the wrong guy (coughChinacough), and even though she really liked to hit people when they're being stupid (though it's for a good cause), torture's always something that made her stomach churn.

…Unless it was Japan, China or any other sick bastard who was suffering in front of her. In that case, she'll fetch some popcorn and enjoy the show.

What? They would have had it coming after the Himalayas level of crimes they've committed their whole damn lives.

And of course, back in the old days, she kept trying to get rid of that nasty feeling in her gut and the gross bile rising up her throat (she actually did lose her lunch more than once, not that she'd ever admit that to anyone) because the sooner she got over that crap and proved herself that she's perfectly capable of torture, the sooner China would stop _looking_ at her like she's a worthless waste of space and put her on the front lines

Good Buddha, she was really _stupid_ back then…

It always stung whenever China scolded her for some crap that wasn't even really worth snapping at her for. In fact, Taiwan long lost count of the number of times China would berate for that or for any other thing. Even so she thought, hey, criticism can motivate someone to do better, right?

But she never could stop herself from hesitating.

…And right now, she can't even stop herself from wincing slightly at the poor slobs trembling.

Oh, by the way, it turned out there were spies. And they got caught.

…Either jetlag killed a lot of their braincells or Italy's spies all of sudden caught a nasty case of incompetence.

Taiwan honestly felt pretty torn whether to feel completely understandable rage at such a dick move, or feeling glad that now she had an outlet to take her anger out on.

She stared at the scene through the glass, jaw agape in disbelief and her eyes wide. Why were they so scared? I mean, yeah, sure, Italy's an asshole you don't wanna disappoint or else but this… this… AGH!

She couldn't help but feel, like, y'know, _cheated_. I mean, come on! Taiwan came waltzing in all her beautiful glory to the place where the assholes were being held, all ready to beat the pasta outta them for thinking that they can just sneak into her country, find any dirty secrets and get away with it… only to find a bunch of quivering chihuahuas.

Granted, chihuahuas were a lot cuter than this, but come on!

This… This was... just pathetic, no, sad, or just pitiful. Or- Or maybe just a sick combination of sad, pitiful and pathetic. Yeah, that's exactly what she's feeling.

Not helping was the person who Taiwan had given the important task of interrogating their enemies, who was. See that guy in a military uniform, even though they're a bit far away from the nearest base, with eyes so wide they could fall out of their sockets any moment, hideous hair and acting like he took a million shots of caffeine?

Everyone called him Fullmetal Fu.

Nice guy, even if he's missing a few screws. He's pretty talented too, and _competent_ most of the time. He had the job of a drill sergeant, good at motivating people (to get the hell away from him). But he's so good at terrifying the crap out of people that they've been using him in interrogation sessions. And now he's scaring the crap out of him.

…Wait. No. Make that scare the _piss_ out of them. Ew.

"Oh, gross. Someone get a janitor!"

Italian spies weren't usually this scared out of their wits, were they? Unless maybe this super-secret mission was super important that they just couldn't screw it up.

But what the hell would that be?

/ / / / /

Most days, when Seborga had nothing better to do or when Italy's being snappy, he normally secluded himself upstairs.

Not that Luci will even let him leave the house even with good weather outside, that jerk.

And right now, Luci's being even snappier than usual, it's almost terrifying. This prompted Seborga to remain upstairs so that he wouldn't possibly wind up bearing the brunt of his anger.

Though he already knew Luci wouldn't hurt him, not unless he wanted to get himself hurt. But… he'd lived here long enough that Luci's prone to do all kinds of crazy-harmful stuff. It'd be best not to risk anything.

Besides, Luci obviously wanted to be alone.

Seborga really wished Flavio will come home soon. Their brother's getting worse.

If he didn't, well, then Luci… he might go find Flavio and drag him back here himself.

And Seborga hoped that that won't happen.

**I think there's gonna be a bit of a timeskip after the next chapter, you know, to keep the plot moving along. And speaking of the plot, there's a lot more to it than what's been revealed here, trust me. Hope you guys liked my take on 2P!England and France. Please review, if you have a minute.**


	16. Long Week: The Plan (The Mission)

**Thanks for the reviews! Well, I think I give up on saying that I'll improve my updates. I don't understand why it's so hard to move on my writer's block _for each chapter_. All I can say is that I'm trying my best to improve. But I managed to get myself to finish today as my final update of the year! Happy New Year everybody. Now, on with the show!**

_(Deltarune – Hip Shop)_

…How come Flavio bought as much gay crap as he wanted, but whenever Allen bought three more monster trucks than he should've, he'd get his ears nearly yanked out of his head?

It's pure hypocritical bullshit!

"Jeez, I know I've already said this before, but look at the amount of crap you've brought all the way from home." Allen gawked in disbelief at all of Flavio's luggage that he brought all the way from the monster that was Flavio's closet.

There's really no other way to describe the damn contents inside the eight unzipped bags/suitcases of different fucking shapes and sizes. Crap. Gay crap, bull crap, just pure crap. Allen didn't care how fashionable, no sane bastard should have that much clothes, cologne, accessories and bath products! Like, seriously!

Flavio huffed at, and flicked Allen's head. "Crap! In the suitcases happen to be the finest, most fabulous clothes in all of Italy!

"Yup, definitely crap." Allen wrinkled his nose in disgust while a hand was pressed on the spot where he was flicked, and he had the gall to ignore Flavio's glare. "Even smells like it. What kind of gay shit did you dump on all this?"

"Well! Excuse me if I don't want my stuff to smell like horrible airport stench." Flavio harrumphed, folding his arms defensively over his chest.

"But I guess it's good that you brought so much cr- stuff." Allen quickly corrected himself when Flavio gave him a warning look, _the_ look. "Spares us the damn trouble of going to the mall to buy some new cr- stuff to wear here. God knows I don't wanna see you try on a gajillion outfits."

Flavio folded his arms over his chest, displeased. "There's nothing wrong with making sure you buy the perfect outfit."

"Still, did you really have to bring at least – what – fucking _thirty_ _outfits_ on what's supposed only like a two day stay or whatever?"

"I always come prepared, mio bambino." Flavio said proudly, eyes sparkling.

"I can see that," Allen remarked dryly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Huffing again like an offended diva, Flavio glared at him. "There's nothing wrong with being prepared for any situation, Al!"

"Nah, there isn't." Allen conceded, but that's all the blonde's gonna get. He wildly gestured towards the whole smelly mess laid out in front of him, snarling." But this is all kinds of wack that I don't even know where to start!"

"So is your wardrobe, but don't see me complaining about it now, do you?" Flavio snorted, head held high.

Now it was Allen's turn to glare at the guy. Eye and fingers twitching, he scowled resentfully. "Flavio, you complain about my clothes all the time!"

"Not always, Al! But you don't see me trying to change who you are!"

"Bullshit! You're always trying to 'subtly' convince me to try out gay crap whenever you drag me to the fucking mall!"

"But only at the mall! I would never force you to change!" Flavio cried, and he started wailing as he put his hand over his chest. "You may be one of the most rude and cussy nations I've ever met, but that doesn't I'm ashamed of you. I know I can be overbearing but I'll always care about you and be there to support you until the end no matter how many horror movie t-shirts you own and wear in public! I love you! Ti amo, mio fratello!"

"Well, I love you too, dammit!" Allen snapped, stupidly feeling tears pricking his eyes already, but dammit… "Even if you reek, act stupidly flamboyant and try to pull my ear every time I swear or act like a jackass, I know you're just looking out for me. You're always there for me even when I screw up and disappoint you. I'm so happy I have you as my brother!"

Flavio practically sobbed as he shook his head. "Oh, Allen, you've never disappointed me! Sure, maybe a little with your fashion sense and hopeless manners, but my love for my little brother far outweighs those things!"

"Same here, big bro!" Allen nodded vigorously, desperately trying to hold back his tears as he patted Flavio's shoulder. "You can pull my ear and try giving me those damn etiquette lessons as many times as you want, but I'd chainsaw my legs off for you any day!"

"I'd burn all my precious clothes for you!"

"I'd throw out my entire collection of G.I. Joe merchandise for you!"

"I'd demolish the Leaning Tower of Pisa if it means you'd be safe!"

"I'd nuke every single Disney Park if it'd save your fabulous ass!"

"AL!"

"FLAVI!"

Then they promptly shared a loving brotherly hug, with Allen having a real smile on his face until he heard the record scratch…

"Wait. What just happened?" Allen could only ask in pure bafflement as he blinked in Flavio's admittedly bone-crushing hug.

"I have absolutely no idea but we're hugging and happy so I don't care!" Flavio cheerfully sang as he hugged Allen even tighter.

But Allen did care, and he had some serious questions right now. Unfortunately, before he could ask what kind of gas leak's going on to make them act this way, he felt himself pale when he heard Gillen's voice.

"Al! Flavi! There's something urgent we need to…" Gillen's scowl (did he imagine that? Did he see Gil _scowl?_) melted off his face when he strolled into the room and saw Allen and Flavio's… ugh… _brotherly_ hug.

Although, sadly, it's not the worst position he'd been caught in.

"Oh," Gillen said, blinking, and started scratching the back of his head. "I-I'm sorry, Flavi, did I… interrupt a personal moment?"

"No/Si!" Allen and Flavio gave each other accusing glares, and the former, fed up, then broke the hug before he could get any more embarrassed.

Gillen, the poor sap, looked helplessly confused. "Erm…"

"It's nothing! NOTHING! Nothing happened, see?" Allen exclaimed loudly in the most subtle, inconspicuous and convincing way possible, haha. Oh, and his face wasn't on fire. See? It wasn't! It totally wasn't. "

"What the hell do you want, anyway?" He cut him off quickly, definitely not blushing, and sidestepped Flavio's attempt to pull his ear again. "If it's about Flavio's crap, then you… Uh…"

That's when he really got a good look at Gillen's expression. And boy, did he feel like a shitty moron for not realizing it earlier.

As soon as Allen (rudely) brought up the question about what Gillen wanted to talk to them about, the albino's face darkened, no, really. Gillen's previously perfectly harmless, and more importantly, normal, confused look became a full-on scowl. He flinched. Seeing that on his older brother figure sent shivers down his spine. No, it wasn't just that. It's wrong. And Allen's known Gil long enough to know that he wasn't scowling because of Allen's behavior or a bad memory.

"You… might want to take a seat." Gillen said finally. All the usual gentleness was gone from his voice, now it's cold, tired, and most important, worried. "I think I have much explaining to do for the two of you."

Oh, this oughta be good.

/ / / / /

_(Bird Noise - Deltarune OST)_

China never requested any assistance to travel to the hidden place, much less notify anyone where he was going on.

They knew better than to pry into their nation's business. To believe they have the right to do so would be arrogance and entitlement of the highest kind, and they would surely be punished for their insolence.

Fortunately, no humans asked any questions this time. Good. They're finally learning.

All told them was he was going on a short trip for a day or two and that any attempts to interrupt him without a good reason will be sent straight to a cell. Well, it's not like it's something he very rarely did. Whenever he wasn't at work, a walk or a peaceful trip to the empty forests was always a good way to clear his stress, and he never notified where he event went to.

It took him an hour to vanish from sight, and then a few more to arrive at his desired destination.

And now here he was at the entrance of this ancient place, still standing and closely protected and hidden, so that no fool would ever be able to get their hands on the evil within. Let's just say that it was a cavern hidden deep in the vast woods of his land, guarded by certain forces, and concealed via a certain method.

This place had been fashioned into a peculiar getaway place, hidden and unreachable by all except for himself, by a younger, more irritable China around three millennia ago. It was a place where he'd come to collect his thoughts and organize proper plans away from all the badgering humans, or in his less busy days, to simply sit and let himself relax with the sounds of the wind howling and the birds flying overhead.

China patiently strolled into the cavern, briefly slowing to breathe in the familiar smell of wet rocks and dust, before immediately resuming his normal pace without glancing back. He only had one thing in mind. He did not come here to hide away. He would never _hide_ to begin with.

He scoffed.

This cavern, or at least, the part that China had been using for several millennia, was not too big or distressingly complicated. And even so, it was hardly an inconvenience for him. He had long since memorized every nook and cranny of this quiet place, every rock and pattern of the earth. It was virtually impossible for him to get lost.

And so he did not.

He inwardly expressed a small amount of relief when he had finally reached the little hiding place inside the hiding place, perhaps the most secret part of all, and was pleased beyond measure when he had spotted no hint that someone – anyone other than him had been here, especially very recently.

But he must see. He needed to move it after all.

He moved a rock or two. He pulled a lever hidden especially well, camouflaged by all the rocks, cobwebs and gathering dust. He lit up a lamp that was in the room to make things easier while he was at it. And he opened the space.

Here it was. There it was. The weapon to end all weapons.

An object that he will not describe, but that he will say was extremely deceptive in how mundane and non-threatening it looked. If an ordinary (foolish) human or even nation so much as gazed upon it, they wouldn't ever assume its true purpose and power.

Releasing a breath that he not been aware not care that he was holding, China steeled himself, swiftly crushing any and all emotion as he _should_, and carefully took the object with his two hands and removed it from its spot. He gently laid the accursed thing in an old table, located a few feet from where he had stood. And then, with equal grace and caution, he took another object, an identical copy of the weapon, into his hands… and placed it where the real one had

He sealed the little secret place shut and placed everything the way it was. He made sure to erase every single trace and evidence that he had been here today. No will ever know. No one will ever even suspect it until too late.

China will not lose. He could not afford to lose 'it' to the other nations. This was something he could not even trust to the siblings who did stay loyal to him. This was a situation he must take care of himself.

And he was.

But it was not over. No, it was far from over.

Now he must hide this where no one will ever to hope it.

He happened to have _just_ the place.

/ / / / /

_(Danganronpa V3 – Despair Searching)_

"YOU WERE TALKING WITH THAT BASTARD?!" Came Allen's enraged shout, and Gillen couldn't help but wince slightly.

Still, he was not surprised or anything of the sort. He had known and been with Allen long enough to no longer be startled or even flinch when the red haired boy would abruptly snap and give in to his short temper. Granted, Gillen still had not given up on his hope that one day Allen will finally let go of all that anger, or at least somehow get it all out of his system, but it's practically something anyone desiring to spend time Allen will need to either get used to or have plenty of patience for.

And he had expected such a reaction from Allen from anything remotely concerning one of his old colonizers, his most hated one in fact. Gillen had only spoken England's said name after explaining that he had received possible intel regarding Italy's plan when it immediately caused Allen to snap.

Breathing in, then out, Gillen then calmly answered the seething boy's question. "That's right. Believe me when I say that I didn't like it either, bu –"

"WHY?!"

"Allie, stop interrupting Gil," Flavio lightly chided as he pulled Allen's ear for his aforementioned rudeness. The blonde then looked at Gillen, concerned. "Please, go on. "

Gillen had proceeded to tell them every detail of his phone call with England down to the various mood swings, and he did not sugarcoat anything regarding Luciano for Flavio's sake, more than just due to moral reasons. Whether England was honest or not, this concerned them too. So he did not spare them any detail.

And if England was telling the truth and there's indeed a much larger plot going on, then… Well, the Alliance won't let that stand. They couldn't, they mustn't.

Once again his two friends reacted pretty much exactly as Gillen had expected them to this alarming yet unreliable news from one of their most infamous enemies.

"I-I…" Flavio surprisingly stammered. Gillen had actually expected him to be surprised, but he looked mortified. "I… I can't believe this."

"It appears, if England was being truthful, that Italy's madness is worse than we ever thought possible, or it could all be a front for a plot of some kind." "Either way, the possibility of a breach of security in our lands is enough reason to worry."

"Are you serious, bro?" America asked angrily. "You sayin' that you actually buy a single crap of what that freak told ya?"

"Nein, I can't say that I do." "We have absolutely no reason to trust him. England has more than often been a wild card, unpredictable and a cause of many troubles."

"So why the hell–"

"But that does not mean we should immediately disregard his words, especially in the fragile situation we're in right now." Gillen finished with a slightly pointed look at Allen so that the latter won't interrupt him again. "It would not hurt to investigate into these claims. There might be at least some merit to them."

"I know you trust him least of all," Gillen tried again, though that little sentence might a bit of an understatement. "Oliver does have… a twisted affection for you. While he has tormented you for most of your life, he has never wished you destroyed, which is what Italy obviously seeks to do. He could have uncovered a plot to do just that, and wanted to warn you. He did say that _you_ were the one he wanted to speak to."

"Gee, how touching." Allen scoffed derisively, and crossed his arms, averting his gaze. "And how do you know Oli – that bastard's not working with Italy, huh? What if this is all part of a sick fucking trick? What then?"

"That is a possibility, but that is why we must investigate." Gillen reminded him patiently, ready to convince Allen of this as long as it could take. They could not afford any risks. "I'm only asking you to give this chance, for the Alliance, for us. The moment I detect that something is very wrong, we will turn back immediately. I promise."

Allen offered no response to that. His shoulders hunched as he crossed his arms even tighter, his gloved fists clenched tightly, as a notable conflict raged in his eyes and face.

"Do you not trust me?"

At that, Allen's face slowly did soften, his bitter scowl melting off his face, but in place was worry. He let out a long exasperated sigh and finally looked Gillen straight in the eye again, no longer being stubborn but still uncertain.

"_Fine_. I won't whine about it." Allen bit out, but no longer was he scowling or even angry. "I'm gonna trust you on this, but you trust my judgment too, okay?"

"I will. Danke. But before we can do any of that…" Gillen trailed off and his cleared his throat before turning his attention toward the pale Italian. "…Flavio? Are you… alright? You're pale."

"…Huh?" Flavio murmured in a sort of shocked daze, before blinking, looking worryingly shaken. "O-Oh, si, I was just… thinking about what you told us. I…"

The blonde then trailed off, the words explaining his reasons unspoken, and he lowered his head.

Frowning, Gillen shared a concerned glance with Allen, who he could tell was having similar thoughts to he was. Taking a deep breath, he asked the question that had been burning in his mind ever since the call from England.

"Flavio you know of these artifacts or items that Luciano might be seeking?" Gillen asked gently, careful not to seem as if he's pressuring his still emotionally fragile friend. "No, perhaps the question that should be asked first is that were you by any chance aware of these in the first place?"

Allen narrowed his red eyes suspicious, yet seemed hesitant. He obviously did not want to believe that Flavio was not only aware, but purposely kept the knowledge from them this whole time as much as Gillen did. If Flavio did know and purposely neglected to inform something so important, he must have a good reason.

"I… I…" Flavio repeatedly faltered, his voice unusually silent and weak. "Gil, I… I can't…"

"You can't what?" Gillen asked carefully.

"I… I don't know!" He suddenly exclaimed, startling Gillen and Flavio, before biting his lip in guilt. "I mean, I'm not sure. I just… Gil, are you sure England said that Luciano wanted to look for _artifacts_..?"

Gillen couldn't for the life of him figure out what's paining his friend so much. "He did. I'm sure."

From beside him, Allen growled. "Jeez, what's the deal, Flavio? Does any of this stuff ring a bell or not? Or don't tell me you just don't want to risk your jackass brother getting hurt."

Gillen shot him a reproaching glare for the insensitive last question.

Flavio also looked understandably. "No! No, of course not. I just… I mean, I could be wrong, for all I know..."

Trailing off into a serious of incomprehensible mutterings, Flavio's breathing began to quicken and he became even paler, which alarmed Gillen enough to finally get tired of Flavio's panicked state and try to alleviate it. God– He will not press him for information if it meant he'll get a panic attack!

"Calm down, Flavio. Please," Gillen said softly, gently raising his hands and resting one on one of Flavio's shoulders. "Breathe. You're in no danger here. We just want to know if you were aware of this. If you didn't want to tell us, I'm sure you must have a reason."

"There's… um… Let's just say that I have a _theory_ to what Oliver might've been referring to," Flavio finally admitted, his eyes darting around warily as if someone might be watching their conversation. "It's something I came upon a long time ago and my memories of it are a little hazy. L-Luci might know because..."

He trailed off, leaving the rest of his words unspoken.

"What is it, Flavio? What do you know of this?" Gillen tried to ask him again. "Any kind of information would be immensely helpful."

Flavio opened his mouth, closed it, and then shakily opened it to speak in a frightened voice. "I-I don't want to say… I promised myself that I wouldn't ever bring this up again."

But bring _what_ up again, Gillen wanted to ask?

He didn't understand what's going on with his friend. There had been a few times where Gillen had seen him afraid, usually in a similar manner to this, especially when his brother was involved in some way, but this felt… different. Why was it different? What was making react like this?

Allen was similarly confused. Or rather, frustrated.

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm not following any of this!" Allen snarled in frustration. "So you _probably_ know what are these special McGuffins that Luci's looking everywhere on the fucking planet for. But you won't tell us what they are? Why can't you trust us?"

"It's not that I don't trust you–"

"Then what the hell?!

"…I can't risk you two with this information. What if someone pried your mind open? Then we'd be doomed!"

After releasing a long exhale, his turned to Gillen and Flavio again, looking calmer than before.

"I need to verify this first." He spoke again in a somber voice, but his face tightened in guilt. "I'm… I'm sorry, but this is something personal. I promised myself that I wouldn't speak of this to anyone, even myself. I need to see if this is really what I think it is, and you better all hope it's not, because then we'll need to do something about it fast."

Gillen felt a mysterious dread at that, but he kept his calm and nodded nonetheless. It was a reasonable deal.

Despite scoffing, Allen softened and grumbled, "Yeah, fine, fine. But you better tell us everything after this."

"I will." Flavio promised solemnly, nodding.

"So, what's the plan now?" America asked in a low voice, looking at them back and forth. "How are we gonna get freakin' Luci to tell us all about his master plan?"

Ah, yes, there's still that they needed to think through. Gillen shifted.

"You got any ideas, Gil? Any gears turning?"

"I am not quite sure, honestly," Gillen admitted, and he put a hand on his hand as he reluctantly voiced the only idea they had at the moment. "But England had recommended that we have Flavio meet up with Luciano, presumably under the pretenses of joining him, and record all the vital information revealed before fleeing back to safety and security."

Flavio flinched back as if struck at the idea, which brought Gillen no end of worry. Allen, in particular, became incensed.

"WHAT?! You can't be serious!" Allen shouted furiously. "We just convinced Flavio to stay here, and now we're just gonna hand him off to fucking Italy?"

"Allie…" Flavio murmured.

"Of course not!" Gillen barked, honestly offended at the notion. "I am merely stating that it's the only idea we have at hand so far, although it's a rather… err… _poor_ plan for my comfort and standards."

"Damn right it is." Allen grunted.

"We'll obviously need a better, safer plan."

"No shit, Sherlock."

"Allen…"

"Hey, no offense! I'm serious."

"You two… are aware that I'm here too, right?" A chilly voice coming from none other than Flavio interrupted their little discussion, and Gillen saw the aforementioned blonde with a strained (pained) smile. "Honestly, you two are talking like I'm not even in the room right now. Can't I have any say in this? This is my brother we're talking about."

Gillen cringed, and was faced with an immense wave of guilt. Oh, yes, how could he do this? Falvio

"It's not that," Gillen frowned, with Allen echoing similar sentiments. "I'm sorry, Flavio."

"We didn't mean to leave you out." Allen said, rubbing the back of his head. "I just… I mean, I thought that you wouldn't wanna…"

"Oh, it's fine." Flavio's smile became only a little less tighter, and now appeared more like a sad one. "Just don't leave me out of this. Luci's still my brother. I know how to handle him better than either of you and I want to help. I mean it."

Gillen nodded his approval. "I know, we trust you. Now then, let's _all_ think up of a plan."

And so they fell into a pensive silence as they pondered their options and tried to formulate a good, reasonable plan. Gillen, for one, wasn't having much luck. His ideas would only work if they were on Alliance or neutral land, which Italy will obviously disapprove of. Flavio would be in enemy territory.

"You know…" Allen piped up in an unusually easy tone. "There's one other way we can trick Italy into spilling the beans and getting away with it."

Instantly having his curiosity piqued, Gillen glanced at Flavio and they both looked expectantly at Allen. "What are you talking about?"

A devious smirk spread across Allen's face, and Gillen had no idea if he should be intrigued or terrified. "Well, gee, let me think, bro. Who do we know and trust not only has the power to teleport at will, disguise his appearance, hide his presence, and easily crush Italy in a fight?"

He waited patiently, a rare feat in itself, with that smirk while kept his arms folded and his foot tapped while both Gillen and Flavio tried to wrack their brains for answers. It didn't take long to figure out who Allen was referring to, however, because there weren't a lot of nations of with all of those things.

And when the answer dawned on him, Gillen blanched.

"Oh no…" His mouth dropped.

"Oh yes!" Allen cackled. "People, I hereby vote that we go to-

"Mamma mia, NO!" Flavio cried out in horror. "Please don't tell me that we're going to involve _him_ in this too?"

"Hey, what's wrong with that guy?" Allen demanded defensively.

Flavio made a sound akin to either a scoff or a squeak and glared. "What's wrong with him? Why, I don't even where to start? I could make an entire fabulous resume about all that's wrong with that man and the terrible, _terrible_ influence he is on you."

Allen groaned loudly. "Ugh, not this again! Come on, we can trust him! He's helped out before!"

"But are we really going to trust him with this?!" Flavio squawked, and he shook his head frantically. "No. I refuse!"

Gillen didn't even sigh at the ensuing argument that he had already heard one too many times of the same topic. But even so, his face darkened. He couldn't quite blame Flavio for being paranoid, not only because of the 'secret' he seemed hellbent on keeping even from his two closest friends, but because of the man in question's nature. He's afraid to say that nor he nor Flavio were too fond of him.

And believe him when he says that the feeling was reciprocated, especially in Gillen's case. The man didn't outright hate him, but he clearly carried resentment whenever they would end up in the same room together.

It's… complicated.

"Well then, Mr. Good Influence, why don't you tell us your grand plan, do ya?"

"I don't have anything yet!"

"Ha! Even if you did, it wouldn't be as good!"

"You two, please, enough!" With that yell from Gillen, the other two bickering nations fell silent. Rubbing his temples from his growing headache, he tried to reason, "Allen, not I'm entirely opposed to that idea despite my current strained relations with him, but are you sure that we can trust him with this?"

"'Course we can!" Allen said hotly, smiling toothily. "Y'all are being ridiculous. We can trust him. He wants to take Italy down as much as we do. He's a member of the Alliance. I trust him a lot as my buddy. And he just happened to be crazy-strong. It's genius! This is the best way we could pull this off.

Gillen's eye twitched, while Flavio pressed his mouth in a thin line as if to hold back whatever strongly worded protests he wanted to hurl at the redhead.

"Well... He does love helping Allen, even if he doesn't extend the exact same sentiments to us." Gillen hesitantly pointed out, then gave Flavio a pointed look.

The blonde winced. "But… if he finds out about what my _fratello_ might be after…"

"I think previous experiences have proved our ally's loyalty to the Alliance and the world, despite his hatred for humanity." Gillen said evenly, his hand going to clutch at the cross hanging from his neck, as was his habit. "And if not, he wouldn't dare to have any risk come to Allen. If he won't do it for us, he'll at least do it for him or even his family. "

Allen nodded in complete agreement, looking quite happy with what Gillen was saying in that man's defense.

Gillen anxiously sweatdropped. "And right now, I can't think of another plan, much less one that we could pull off, ahem, 'without a hitch'. And Italy does fear him for a reason."

Slowly but surely, Flavio noticeably began to overcome his stubbornness. "And if there's anyone who can face my fratello, easily defeat him in a surprise attack and get us all to safety without any issues, it's him."

Gillen restrained the urge to bang his head on a wall or even facepalm. Oh dear Lord…

Still, he couldn't help but chuckle.

"More important, I promised Allen that we'd trust his judgment with this entire situation, didn't I?" He smiled directly at Allen. "And he trusts that man, who trusts him in return. So that means that we should trust Allen to know what he's doing. He wouldn't suggest that man if he didn't trust him enough now would he?"

Flavio said nothing else to that. If anything, he seemed to be slowly warming up to the idea.

But… it's the only thing they had right now. Time's of the essence.

Allen looked ridiculously smug, but Gillen could tell he appreciated the trust. "You bet. So, is that a 'yes'?"

The priest and the blonde shared a nervous glance and released a simultaneous sigh.

"…Fine. Go call him. He'll listen to you."

/ / / / /

_(Case of Missing Gary – Silvagunna: King for Another Day)_

"Well, that was a lot more productive than I thought it'd be." Argentina softly remarked in a not-so-great attempt at alleviating the tension while he and Cuba made their way into the break room.

It's true. Today's been a great day for their side. While he did always prefer to keep a positive attitude about the future outcomes, he wasn't expecting today to be as huge of a success that it was. He _was_ expecting the Italians to start confessing, but not a breakthrough like this. Granted, they're still talking as they speak, but the fact they've made this much progress in a day's more than a reason to throw a party over at the ovenbird aviary.

Did Argentina... really terrify people that much?

He couldn't even begin to describe how relieved he felt when Cuba's little scheme to coax the Italians into confession by threatening... His shoulders went tense. Argentina wasn't sure what they'd do then if the human didn't crack and he had to drop his 'decoy' plushie... but he trusted Cuba. And wow, did it pay off.

Argentina really had to give Cuba credit for the genius idea. He didn't- would've never thought of doing that. And who knows if he would've had the courage to go through with it without Cuba or someone else there to tell him it'd be okay, even if it's for a good cause. But it worked. It worked.

But right now, he's afraid his friend was too absorbed brainstorming over the answers they just got to care about any compliments... which was really saying something.

"Hey, Tina?"

"Si?"

"Do ya seriously still think that all this news can wait until tomorrow?" Cuba asked him, frowning. "I mean, I doubt they're in the boss's land too, 'cause he'd have pummeled them and told all of us by now, but damn it, this is serious!"

"…I still think we should wait until tomorrow." Argentina decided calmly, and quickly spoke up again when he saw the anger on Cuba's face and the latter's mouth open to obviously protest. "But _not_ for the reasons you think."

Cuba promptly closed his mouth.

"Por favor, I know you're worried about him, but rushing in without taking into account anything else could potentially be disastrous."

"Can't we at least tell him that something's up?"

"Max, we're still not… done with them." He carefully and gently explained to him, hoping he'll understand. "They are still in the process of, ah, how did it go again…? Oh, si, spilling the beans. Before we go running to Allen to tell him the news, we should take some time to extract the information and make sure it's legitimate."

"Legitimate? You sayin' that you don't actually believe them, Tina?"

"I… Personally, part of me wishes that what they're saying isn't true. But that doesn't matter. The fact that this whole story sounds a little too nonsensical to be true doesn't help either…"

"So you don't believe it? I mean, honestly, it doesn't make much sense to me either. But…"

"I'm saying that we need more time. And… as much as I don't like it, we might need to continue pressuring them…"

"Even after we saw how that guy spilled before you could drop that fake doll of yours?" Cuba remarked skeptically, scratching his head.

"Even so," Argentina nodded slowly, always calculating his movements to never reveal more of his **face**. "I _hope_ that they're telling the truth, as much as I don't like it, but it's still too early to decide. It could be a desperate attempt to lead us scrambling on a wild goose chase so they could avoid making _Italia_ angry and stall for time for their extraction, if there is one. Or- or maybe us rushing to tell Allen could be part of their plan too…"

To his relief, this seemed to resonate with Cuba, seemed to help him begin to understand. He could see the taller man's eyes widen slightly in realization at the possibility, and probably of other, darker, possibilities, the brief anger, the obvious worry for Allen's safety, and finally the understanding that passed over his face.

Feeling encouraged by this, Argentina tried again.

"Come on, you know how much Allen hates it when you jump to conclusions." Argentina pointed out in a more lighthearted tone, even though it's probably not an appropriate moment, even smiling behind the mop of hair. "Remember that time when you thought the Undertaker kidnapped him and planned to sacrifice him in a satanic ritual if Stone Cold didn't defeat him, so you went to 'rescue' him?"

If Argentina was someone who enjoyed seeing people embarrassed, he probably would've snickered at the utterly embarrassed jaw-dropped look that replaced Cuba's expression at the mention of that _infamous_ incident. The Caribbean's dark face somehow became completely _red_ from shame. Argentina had rarely seen him be this embarrassed.

And Cuba had a habit of getting himself into a lot of embarrassing situations.

Oh, he always hated to be reminded of that disastrous show. Allen still hadn't even fully forgiven him for putting one of his favorite wrestlers, in the hospital for six months. As a matter of fact, to Argentina's strong disapproval and exasperation, he even beat Cuba up in the final match in live television. Yeah, it might have been a little cruel, considering Cuba beat up a lot of security and the Undertaker when he legitimately thought Allen was in danger.

…But then again, Cuba unfair beat up a lot of security who were just doing their jobs as well as the Undertaker. So, um… fair's fair?

To this day, Cuba was still banned from attending any wrestling match.

"N-No one ever told me that it was all just for show!" Cuba stammered defensively as his face became an even brighter red.

Argentina sighed, but it's in an exasperated-fond manner. "Max, _everyone_ knows that the WWE storylines are purely fictional!"

"Well, I didn't!" Cuba huffed angrily. "But fine, fine, I get it. Don't jump to conclusions and gather all possible data first before doing anything else, right? I can do that."

"I know you can't. You just needed a bit of a reminder." Argentina smiled at him from behind his mop of hair, hoping that Cuba could notice the gesture. "So are… we um, in agreement then? We won't notify America or the others of any of this until tomorrow."

"Si, I agree." Cuba nodded, and he puffed his chest as he spun around. "Which is why we need to head back there right now so we can squeeze every last drop of truthful intel outta them as soon as possible!"

"U-Uh, Max, do you even remember a word I sa-"

"TO THE INTERROGATION ROOM!"

/ / / / /

_(Danganronpa – New World Order) _

Damn England, damn his cryptic shit, damn his suspicious shady stuff.

America grumbled all kinds of curses at his former caretaker, completely not giving a shit that some of them were really politically incorrect and would warrant him getting his ears pinched by Flavio, as he blew off all his steam in one of his absolute favorite ways: ranting.

Shit. Why now? Why today, you crazy pansy? Dammit, this was supposed to have been a fun day. Alfred came to visit him for the first time in freakin' forever and now you call me– Gil and dump all this crap about spies, plots, artifacts and other crap? Why do you have to ruin…

Growling, he snatched up his phone. Well, not like complaining will do any good now. He needed to call that guy. They'll need his help.

If anyone could help them and make the plan completely foolproof, it's this bastard. The others may doubt him, and sure, maybe there was still that incident between Allen and the guy lingering over them like a curse, but Allen knew he could trust him. They're friends. Unlike this guy's version in Alfred's world, he did value his friendship with Allen. He didn't put up with any bullcrap. He always got things done.

Allen quickly browsed through his contacts and found the guy's phone number. Sighing quietly, he put the phone near his ear and just waited for him to pick up.

He better pick up, or Allen's gonna lose it.

Fortunately, the universe was on his side for once and the call did get picked up. He didn't waste time in being the first guy to talk.

"Hey, buddy. You busy?" Allen greeted curly, cutting straight to the chase.

_"A pleasure to hear from you too, Allen,"_ The silky voice from the other side of the line responded cheerfully, too used to Allen's less than stellar manners like everyone else. _"But honestly though, how have you been? I heard you've been under quite a lot of stress as of late."_

"I'm fine, thanks for asking and shit." Sighing, Allen rolled his eyes, but he held in whatever urge he had to lash out for no reason out of respect for the guy. "But answer the question. How much free time do ya have today and tomorrow?"

_"Why do you ask?"_

"I… I need your help." Shit. No matter who it was, it's always hard to get the friggin words outta his mouth. "It's important."

Silence. Allen scowled, gritting. He never liked using those words. Weakness. Weakness. People might– Sometimes too much for his stupid pride to take, but since this was incredibly important, he couldn't afford to be ridiculously stubborn. They needed help. Gil and Flavio needed help. The whole damn world might need their help. He could put aside his pride and standoffishness for all that.

Then guy finally spoke, thankfully not laughing at him or anything. Not that he would, but it's something Allen always expected people would do. _"I see. Well, I do have paperwork, but you know how little that matters to me compared to you. If this is important, then I will gladly rush to your aid." _

"It _is_ that important." Allen stated sharply.

_"Oh my…"_ The bastard chuckled, too amused for Allen's comfort. _"Very well, you have my undivided attention and support."_

"Perfect." Allen grinned, pumping his fist in the air, before he remembered another important thing. "Oh, and is your brother with you? Can he come and help out too?"

Yeah, they could definitely use the other guy too. What if Luci decided to bring his two lackeys or something? They may be shitheads, but they're not pushovers. They'd need all the help they could get, and this bastard's brother was just the guy. With those two together, they got this in the bag.

Unfortunately, all of Allen's rising enthusiasm promptly vanished once the guy sighed and crushed that hope.

_"Ah, I'm afraid I have sent off my brother to take care of human rats sniffing for any secrets I might have. He will be busy with them tomorrow as well."_ The guy lamented softly, and Allen struggled not to explode into a mountain pile of swearwords. _"However, if this is truly urgent, I will have him return to my side, if you wish."_

"Oh, well, in that–" Allen then blinked, and did a double take, gaping. "Wait. Wait a minute. Did you just say your bro's out hunting for humans?"

"You heard correct." His buddy confirmed serenely, but Allen could just hear the sadistic joy creeping into the guy's voice. "As I said, I have detected a few rats in my garden. Italian rats to be precise. I have sent my brother to neutralize the nuisance at once."

"I – You–"Allen spluttered, twitching dangerously as he processed this new info dump. God, it's as if the universe decided that today was 'Drop one ton of bricks after another on Allen and co. Day' or something. "Italian spies?! You have Italian spies roaming in your country?! Since when?!"

"For a while now, but I finally decided to crush their false sense of security today." The guy had the nerve to laugh like a maniac while Allen stood gaping like a moron.

"Why didn't you tell us?! This is something the Alliance should really know about considering all the shit that's going on!"

"Ah… I don't think I'm supposed to tell you that yet."

"Yet?! Tell me _what_ yet?!"

"Absolutely NOTHING~!"

"YOU–"

He stopped himself. It was hard, but he stopped himself. No. No, no, no. Calm down, Allen Jones. You ain't got time for this bullcrap. You want to get the guy to help you, not yell at him until your throat's sore. Do it for Gil. Do it for Flavio. Maybe he'll have all his money from the swear jar back if he didn't cuss anymore while…

Allen took a deep breath, trying very, very hard not to crush the phone in her hands.

"Okay…" Allen sighed loudly, rubbing his forehead tiredly. "Let's start over, okay? I don't have time to yell at you. I'll tell you my story, and I promise you that you'll definitely be obligated to share yours.

"Oh?" God, he could hear the smirk in that voice. "Then by all means, explain away, my friend."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it. Ya see…"

**I think next chapter's gonna have the timeskip, or at least after a segment or two. Wanna move on the plot more already. Don't worry, what happened in between will be explained. I hope you're enjoying how things are going. Please review if you have a minute.**


	17. Long Week: The Mission (The Plan)

**Thanks for the reviews! Apologies once again for the long delay. I was hit with a bit of writer's block for this one and I just never had the time to work on this one, but I later decided to have the latest chapter of Dawn of the New World Order delayed so I could finally update this. I think the next one will come out a lot earlier, I hope. I already have some progress made. I hope you enjoy! Now, on with the show!**

Gillen wished he could say that he wasn't at all anxious about this.

He took a little pride in how he would manage to remain (somewhat) calm in many situations that had been presented to him throughout his long grueling life, from the ones that could be considered comical to those that were completely brutal. It wasn't an easy feat, especially considering how… er… brash and catty Allen and Flavio could be respectively, even in the face of serious danger.

But honestly, how could he not be anxious right now? There was something about all of this that struck him as… urgent. No. It was urgent. But this was a type of urgency that made him constantly antsy and made the hairs on the back of his head stand up.

There's also the fact that at the center of all this was Italy, their current archnemesis.

It wasn't just because of the situation overall that Gillen was anxious, no. It's part of it. But no, it's a lot more than that. In order for Flavio to meet with his brother, he obviously needed to call his brother and organize the entire meeting so they could fully make a plan.

They might as well take advantage of the fact that Allen's busy speaking with _him_. Thank God he didn't object much to this, not that Gillen thought that he would in this case. While Allen's capable of restraint, it might be a little difficult for him to do that with someone like Italy scrutinizing and taking apart ever word that'll come out of Flavio's mouth. The boy's not only under much stress, but he would naturally be inclined to come in Flavio's defense.

It's for the best.

"All right. I-I am going to call him now, for real this time." Flavio muttered uneasily to himself, trying to take deep calming breaths.

"You can do this, Flavio." Gillen stated confidently, nodding. "I believe in you. But please, be careful."

"I am going to put it on speakerphone, so, you know, can hear." Flavio explained a little too quickly, but Gillen understood and grunted in affirmation. "But this means he might hear you too, so whatever happens… Don't. Make. A. Sound."

Gillen nodded and grunted in affirmation at the warning. The blonde seemed a little more confident with this and after anxiously calling his dreaded brother's number, he held out the phone as they waited for North Italy to answer and…

Now. Huh. That surprisingly took less time than he had thought.

"Ah– Ciao, Luci!" Flavio cheerfully greeted in an impressively inconspicuous tone. "How have you been?"

_"Where have you been?"_ Italy's callous voice immediately cut off his brother's cheerful greeting with the blunt question.

Flavio winced at the harsh tone, but he stayed strong and spoke clearly, only slightly stuttering his words, "I-I was at America's house, Luci."

_"I knew it, why did I expect any better?"_ Italy grumbled with his words dripping with bitterness, the remark itself making Flavio looked pained. _"Tch. You were at his house? Again?! You left without even saying goodbye or even a word to go to that idiota's house?!"_

With that enraged accusation, the blonde Italian started to look nearly as agonized as he became when he tearfully recounted the tale of just how his northern brother became the ruthless man he was today and it . He gnawed on his lip, probably to keep himself from making any strangled noise or even cry.

_"Why do I even bother anymore?"_ Italy hissed, further wounding Flavio and Gillen had to clutch his cross to restrain his growing anger. _"Heh. At least you had the guts to admit it for once."_

"I'm sorry," Flavio whispered pitifully, anguished pink eyes fixed on the floor.

_"Don't apologize if you don't really mean it, fratello,"_ The vicious brother spat resentfully. "_Now, what do you want? Why call now? No. First of all, where are you? You're not at that… idiota's house, are you? After this stunt, you can't be that much more... stupid."_

Gillen was sure that no one could possibly miss the underlying threat laced with that last question. Scowling and keeping his hand on the hanging from his beck, he had to force the rising need for aggression in his heart down to prevent himself from possibly giving himself away in response of the implied threat toward his best friend. Italy had that effect on people. He somehow had a way of making even the most patient man feel irate.

Oh, he _hated_ this. He hated having to stay silent and watch this abuse all over again. He thought he had seen the last of this since… And what made it even worse was that despite everything that happened today, deep down somewhere, Flavio probably thought that he _deserved_ to be insulted.

Flavio frantically shook his head, even though Italy shouldn't be able to see him. "N-No, of course not, Luci! I said that I _was_ at America's house. Not anymore. They even told me not to call you. Right now I'm my car, making a quick stop on the way to the airport."

_"…Really?"_ Italy sounded very skeptical of that.

This time, Flavio nodded quickly, desperate. "Si, really. Honest!"

_"So you are nowhere near any American's hearing range, right?"_

"That's right, I'm not!"

_"And you're being completely honest?"_

"I am, I swear! I would never lie to you, Luci! I couldn't!"

A period of silence followed that insistent exclamation where the albino expected a derisive scoff or something similar. Gillen unconsciously rubbed his thumb and index finger on the cross as the looming dread and anxiety hung over the room. The longer the seconds dragged on, Gillen couldn't help swallow, feeling increasingly worried if Italy will indeed buy the lie after all.

On the topic of Italy's amount of gullibility, Gillen would say that it honestly wasn't much. That man _had_ been tricked before, with the more memorable instances being perpetrated by the Alliance. But that didn't make him gullible. Gillen and his fellow allied nations had to be careful in their efforts. And he was among the top of the world for a reason. Italy's ability to see through people may pale in comparison to individuals such as Russia, Saudi Arabia, among others, but he wasn't _stupid_.

And this included in matters concerning Flavio. Estranged as they are, they're still brothers. Family. They knew each other on a personal level, and the information and details gleaned from such a closeness with Italy no one else had had proved to be useful in several instances.

They could only hope that Italy's recent and increasing insanity, recklessness and anger would be enough to cloud his senses and better judgment.

Their prayers appeared to have been answered when the North Italian released an exasperated sigh.

_"Damn right you can't. Fine. I'll believe you. Not like I'd let anyone get involved anyways…"_ Italy finally spoke up with a grumble, scoffing in disgust, and both Flavio and Gillen allowed themselves to relax just a little. "_You never had the guts to be like me."_

"G-_Grazie_, Luciano." Flavio sounded genuinely grateful for that, despite the jab that came after.

A fierce growl from Italy outright crushed that moment. _"Spare me, Flavio. We need to **talk**, fratello. We **will** talk. This is one thing you won't be able to run away from this time."_

Gillen felt his eyes further narrow in anger, but they went wide when he was struck with a horrible realization. England had been telling the truth. The man said that Italy would be seeking out Flavio sooner or later. Or at least, he was truthful about that part. The rest remained to be seen.

There's something heart-wrenching about how terrified Flavio looked right now. "Wh-What do you mean w-we need to talk? Is it important?"

_"Oh, because you wouldn't bother coming if it wasn't, right?"_ Italy bit out balefully, and Flavio cringed at the bitter attack. Gillen could feel his teeth bearing a snarl as he clutched his cross even tighter. _"Well, you'll be damn happy to know that it **is**, you hear me?"_

"That's not what I meant!" Flavio cried out near exasperatedly, wincing. "It's just– We've hardly talked lately and now you suddenly have something important to say?""

_"And? It's your fault for always avoiding me and running away so you wouldn't have to deal me. Suck it up and deal with the consequences of your own actions."_

Again the jab obviously wounded Flavio, no doubt as intended by that monster. And once again, even as despite how Gillen must force it down for the sake of their mission, it was becoming increasingly difficult to suppress the anger boiling his veins. Indeed. How could Italy be so cold to his brother who had never stopped loving him for all these years?

_Why must they all have such cruel, cold-hearted brothers?_

_"Just stop whining before it gets even more annoying. But enough about that, like I said, we're going to talk. So–_

"…No…" The blonde whispered eerily with a startlingly blank stare.

_"What?"_ And for once Gillen agreed with North Italy. What?

For the first time in a while, Gillen was there to witness Flavio becoming angry at his brother, "No… no, don't try to turn this around! You're wrong, Luci! It isn't me, it's you!"

**_"Excuse me?"_**

"No, don't you dare do this to me again, Luci! Don't blame me for every single thing wrong with us!"

Gillen stood there in awe with his mouth hanging slightly as Flavio defiantly talk back to his brother with a shaky scowl and not show any signs of shrinking away and apologize. G-Granted, Flavio did have a backbone (Gillen and Allen would be damned if they allowed him to not have one with such a dangerous brother haunting him), but it's something of a… rare occurrence.

His friend was always one to usually not allow his anger get the better of him.

"It's _your_ fault." There was a rare resentment in Flavio's voice. "You've been giving me the cold shoulder for days, as the Americans say. I've tried to talk to you for the past week but you– you brush me off and you're always angry! How could I talk to you when you're like that? Why should I bother? I love you, but you make it so painful for me!"

Even from this distance, Gillen could hear the growling coming from the northern brother and feel the seething anger at being defied from the device. If this other any other situation, he would feel extremely happy for Flavio for accomplishing what he knew was a difficult feat, pride for his friend being able to stand up to his brother when the latter attempted to guilt-trip him once again.

_"Well, why should you? You've only tried your fucking best to avoid talking to me."_ Italy retorted.

"Because you'd always do nothing but lash out! You'd never talk. You always brushed me off!" Flavio yelled at him. "If you're going to do nothing but insult me again, then I might as well hang up and leave you alone since, to you, I'm so stupid and annoying!"

Gillen's confident that he could feel color drain out of his face in shock. And Italy seemed so stunned by that retort that he went silent.

But right now, in this situation, it might not be the best option. He frowned in worry. Although, it then occurred to him that this might not be a bad thing. Wouldn't it strike as suspicious to Italy if his brother was being too compliant with his demands, especially in these times? Perhaps a show of defiance could further convince Italy that there wasn't any hidden plot involved.

Flavio then met his gaze with his almost calm eyes, and a sort of understanding passed between them. And that was when Gillen understood that he should trust that Flavio perfectly knew what he's doing.

_"You… You've got some nerve, fratello."_ Came a low snarl from the Northern brother after a long silence, positively dripping in barely restrained rage.

The southern brother only showed the briefest hints of an involuntary flinch before remaining firm and determined in his anger. Gillen was impressed, to put it mildly. This was why people should learn not to underestimate Flavio, he was no pushover.

"Is there a problem with that, fratello?" Flavio sniffed, courageous even after briefly cringing at his own challenge.

It was here that Gillen braced himself for the inevitable fit of anger from Italy. It was only expected. However, his predictions of a defeaning shouting match were promptly thrown out the window when he heard a scoff from the other side of the line.

_"Whatever, I'm not going to waste time being petty like you."_

If Gillen was a man with a dry or cynical sense of humor akin to Allen, France or Indonesia, he would've snorted at that last remark. He wasn't however, and the hypocrisy gave rise to a surge of irritation similar to when he dealt with England. That. Now that was rich coming from Italy, one of the pettiest men Gillen ever had the misfortunate of meeting.

But, in all seriousness, this was simply… odd, to say the least. Italy wouldn't simply brush aside such a show angry defiance from Flavio like it was nothing. To put it very, very, VERY mildly, he'd be pissed off (pardon his language). He wouldn't take this lying down. He would return Flavio's bite with ear-grating screaming and worse, not… simply move on with just sounding a little over mildly annoyed.

He wasn't alone in this. Flavio looked just as surprised at his brother's apparent nonchalance. However, they could not dwell on this for long, as Italy swiftly moved on the conversation.

"Huh...?" Flavio's mouth hung open in disbelief.

_"Let's get to the point again with no distractions again, shall we?"_ Italy suggested mockingly. _"I'm not going to discuss the details of the matter here. You may say that you're alone, but the Americans can still find a way to eavesdrop on us, and we don't want that, do we?"_

"N-No. I suppose not–"

_"**Suppose**? Ugh! Did that idiota's stupidity suddenly become infectious?"_ Italy snapped in great annoyance, making Flavio flinch again. _"Of course I'm right. You yourself should know how the Americans acquire their information since you two are both in the same glamorous alliance. That buffoon or his humans or maybe even another nation could've tapped your phone for all you know! And you 'suppose' I'm right?!"_

Flavio bit his lower lip. "I… I…"

_"Got it? Good."_ Italy didn't bother to wait for a proper response. _"Now, listen up. Here's what you're going to do."_

Despite his visible dismay at this, and Gillen's own, swallowed his complaints and paid attention.

_"Fly home, to Venice. Si, I think that's a nice place to meet. Right in my land, in my terms, what better place to be in, eh, fratello?"_ Good Lord, he could just hear the smirk in Italy's voice.

Venice? If it was possible, Gillen's jaw might as well have dropped to the polished floor. That's deep in North Italian territory, not to mention dangerous...

"I-I was thinking that Milan might be nice, you know with the view and all…" Flavio dared interject a little sheepishly, anxiously glancing away to a wall.

A sudden cackle from Italy startled both of them and nearly made Gillen jump. _"Ha! Milan? Don't be stupid. Like hell I'm letting **you** two feet near that shithole again!"_

Gillen could only sweatdrop as Flavio visibly deflated like a balloon at being shot down with even his curl drooping at that. Ah, yes, it's a bit of a shame. For what, exactly? Well, let's just say that Flavio became a little… moved when Alfred happily told him all about the Milan in the Light World. Maybe a little _too_ moved.

_"Unless…"_ Italy's tone suddenly took on a more darker one dripping with suspicion. _"You don't **want** to go to Venice because you're worried that you won't be able to escape?"_

"It's not that. It's fine." Flavio hastily shot down that accusation. "P-Perfectly fine, honest. I-In fact, it's… been a while since we've last visited Venice together, right, fratello?"

_"I wasn't **asking** for your opinion. And you're not flying over to sightsee and reminisce or be all sappy, fratello. This is strictly business."_ Italy coldly dismissed Flavio's well-intentioned remark. _"Very **personal** business, but still strictly business. I won't tolerate you sidetracking us with your ridiculous hobbies. This is too important."_

Flavio looked as if he were punched in the stomach, and swallowed. "I… I understand, fratello."

"Good." Italy huffed in satisfaction, and then spoke in a sickeningly sweet yet mocking voice. _"So you'll book the next flight to Venezia… right, mio fratello?"_

"W-Wait, right now?" Flavio stammered. It was hard to tell if it was genuine alarm or not.

_"Did I stutter? Si, I meant as soon as possible, fratello. As I said, this is important. And I know it's much more important than whatever it was you were doing or were planned."_

The red-eyed albino raised an eyebrow. Gillen just liked how Italy confidently already started using past tense, how typical.

"Okay then, I'll see you there." Flavio muttered, looking a little shaken.

_"Good."_ Italy harrumphed. _"Oh, and Flavio?"_

"S-Si?"

_"Don't think of telling that American **idiota** or that damn Templar or even bring them to the meeting place, I swear on Nonno's name that there will be consequences if you do"_

The mention of the Italy brother's dreaded grandfather was enough for Flavio's expression to morph into a face of pure anger, then having all the color drain from his face with a look of paralyzed fear, going back to bitter anger, before finally settling into a nervous frown.

"I-I won't."

_"Good. Arrivederci, mio fratello. And **don't** be late."_

With a 'click', the call ended, and the air of safety and freedom finally returned to the room. And Gillen was sure that he could speak for both himself and Flavio when he said that they felt like a large weight had been lifted off their shoulders.

It was done. The first phase of their plan had worked, apparently.

"W-Well!" Flavio was the one who broke the silence, wearing a smile that was a tad bit too wide with sweat trailing off his brow. "Th-That went a little better than I thought, haha…"

Flavio's forced – pained – laughter wasn't fooling Gillen for a second. He knew Flavio. And more importantly, Gillen had been around enough psychopaths and broken people to know a fake smile when he saw it. It was painful itself seeing Flavio try to mask his pain and fear. _Why, old friend? You don't have to pretend around me._

The albino regarded him a frown before at last asking the question that's been heavily on his mind throughout watching that entire frustrating and borderline unnerving phone call.

"Are you alright?" He asked the question softly.

Biting his lip, Flavio's downcast eyes remained fixed on the floor, "I… I think so."

"That was impressive. I know his words you and it obviously, but _danke_." Gillen said gently, resting a hand on Flavio's tense shoulder. "I'm proud of you, Flavio."

The blonde slowly nodded, swallowed, and managed a weak smile. "G-Grazzie."

They fell into a more comfortable silence, despite the gravity of the situation. A minute later, the door swung open for a smirking American to reveal himself.

"Just talked to Kaf, says he and his bro are happy to help us," Allen announced rather proudly as he strolled into the room, hands in his pocket. "Just a half hour and our chances of getting away with this shit scot-free just skyrocketed."

Flavio sighed, only sounding a little less stressed now. "Si, that is good news. But please tell me you didn't–"

"Oh, relax. I didn't mention any of the suspicious shit you're hiding from us," Alfred glared pointedly at Flavio, obviously still resentful. "I'm not a blabbermouth."

"Mio Dio, I'm not– I just don't want to risk him learning about–" Flavio stopped himself, pressing his mouth tightly and shooting a quick glance around as if there might be someone listening, before opening it again, "What I think my fratello might be after."

"Bro, he won't be able to hear," America hissed, obviously taking offence to that. "Whatever the place this whole shit's gonna take place, he won't be close enough to hear. We can't have Italy risk detecting him, can we?"

"I just want to make sure we can trust him."

"So? I trust him, and he's never broken a promise he made to me before and I'm sure as hell that he's not about to do it anytime soon," Allen retorted defensively, eyes now even more alight in anger.

Gillen found himself sighing for the umpteenth time.

For all of Allen's short-temper, poor manners and penchant for violence as the answer to everything, he would gladly to stick for anyone he truly trusted and saw as a friend, even if others didn't approve. It was an admirable trait really, and Gillen always appreciated his loyalty. But it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't _that man_ Allen was defending.

As expected for a young man of his character, Allen had had his share of similarly reckless and/or violent friends and bad influences over the years. And as expected, it had caused Gillen and Flavio (_especially_ Flavio) no end of stress and distress. That man, while a good example, wasn't even the _worst_ person Allen had stuck with. At least _he_ seemed to be concerned with Allen's well-being and opinion (somewhat). The same couldn't exactly be said for other nations, though some had improved along with Allen himself over the years…

But that unfortunately didn't apply for _that man_. If Gillen was somehow pressed to name a single change he had seen in that man's personality in all the years since that nation had befriended, he would spend a good amount of time silently pondering on that before simply stating _patience_. He had certain had become more patient, and Gillen did not necessarily mean that in good way. He had gained patience and perhaps a whole new level of distrust of humanity after seeing the nations of the West (which was certainly something considering his disdain for his own hemisphere).

For this case, however, Gillen was willing to put aside his distrust if it meant that that man could help them get to the bottom of this and help them get away scot-free.

"And you're absolutely sure about that?" Flavio further pressed with his brows furrowed.

This finally pushed Allen over the edge of his already short patience, and he threw his hands up. "For the last fucking time, if I wasn't, I wouldn't have told in the first place, dammit!

That curse-riddle exclamation earned the boy an ear pinch by a deadpan Flavio. As usual, Allen yelped and desperately tried to fight against the blonde's grip. Oh Lord, how many times was this going to happen again? Flavio's going to end up tearing out Allen's ear someday, at this rate.

However, before Gillen could even consider sighing for the millionth time today and stepping in to prevent further escalation and diverting from the main topic at hand, Flavio unexpectedly released Allen, allowing the younger nation to hiss and cuss in pain as he rubbed his ear.

"Fine." Flavio huffed, relenting.

"Thank you. So what about you guys? How'd the call with Loony Lucy go?" Allen asked in a rather nonchalant tone, more out of calmness than apathy, as he crossed his arms with a.

Gillen resisted the urge to smile at the admittedly amusing nickname. No time for jokes. "Good, we suppose. Luciano is skeptical, but it doesn't sound that he figured out that I was listening in.

It turns out England was right in regards that Luciano was seeking out Flavio for a private talk."

Allen raised his eyebrows, then immediately scowled. "Seriously? That crazy sonuva bitch was right?"

"At least in that regard, the rest remains to be seen." "But why does Luciano want to meet him?"

"We're not sure." "I have a sneaking suspicion… but let's hope I'm horribly wrong."

"So, where exactly is this 'talk' gonna take place?" America bit out, using his air quotes.

"Venice, North Italy. We'll be heading to there in a few days."

If the look on Allen's face was any indication, he would've done a spit take had he been drinking water. "_Venice?_ Ugh. Figures that bastard would wanna be in a place where he'd be in complete control and somewhere where he'd know if there's someone other than Flavio involved."

"Heh. Now I'm _really_ glad I called Kaf. And you guys called me crazy for wanting to ask him to help us."

"Si, si, I _suppose_ he's our only shot at getting you two in my fratello's territory undetected. And with his powers, we can possibly completely get away with this." Flavio begrudgingly admitted, to Allen's glee, before frowning at his fellow nations. "But there's still one problem: how are we going to record the information without Luci noticing?"

Gillen pondered on that deeply for a few moments, and "Allen, do you still have a few of those chips– those, those hearing devices or whatever it's called–"

"Let's just call them chips." Allen said.

"Ja, those. Did you still have a few of those here or nearby?" Gillen asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I still got a couple of those things in the workshop." A knowing smirk then slowly spread across Allen's face, his eyes glinting with mischeif. "Oh, I get it. We'll plant one on Flavio, make sure to put it somewhere Luci's not bound to look, and we'll hear the whole conversation on a phone or something and record it. Piece of cake."

Gillen nodded in approval, smiling, "My thoughts exactly, Al. Flavio, your thoughts?"

Flavio hummed as his eyes stared "But where would we put it? My fratello's not an idiot. He will check me for anything suspicious."

Like that, Gillen's newfound sense of confidence slightly dimmed with that detail, but the spark was far from being put out. Yes, Flavio brought a good point. If Gillen was meeting with _his_ estranged brother after the latter surprisingly agreed to come, he would definitely feel suspicious and feel obligated to check his brother's

"How about Flavio's dick?" Allen nonchalantly suggested.

Gillen instantly choked at the very idea once it fully registered in his mind. He gawked at Allen in horror. "Wh-What? Nein! Please, take this erious

"You know, crudeness aside, that's actually not a bad idea." Flavio mused thoughtfully, and he was actually pondering on the idea and considering it.

_What?_ Suddenly feeling like something clogged his windpipe, Gillen whipped his head at the South Italian in a mixture of betrayal, dismay and mortification on his suddenly pale face, especially that last one. Yes, yes, that was it. He was mortified. Absolutely, terribly mortified. God help us all.

"Yeah. Like, who'll think of checking someone's dick? No one, that's what." Allen cracked a wily smirk, seeming proud of this.

Smiling, Flavio nodded fervently in agreement. "Si, si, it's one of those 'it's so crazy that it has to work' schemes, right?"

"Damn right."

"But which part would be the most comfortable place to put it?"

"If you ask me, I say that-"

"E-Except we can't know for sure if we'll be able to hear from… under all the clothing!" Gillen quickly interjected, stammering, before this topic could go somewhere very undesirable and unpleasant. "H-How about somewhere a bit more practical? L-Like Flavio's sunglasses?"

To his tremendous relief, his fellow nations did not reject the idea regarded it with the same, if not even more, thoughtfulness than the previous horrendous one.

"That could work," Flavio hummed in approval with a nod.

"Might need to be careful where we put it, but yeah," America snorted and crossed his arms, lips forming a half smile. "Doesn't sound half-bad."

Gillen heaved a large sigh of relief. Why must he be the only one sane all the time? "Well, I suppose we first need to test it. Luckily, we still have about two days to get everything ready for this task. But we must remember that this will be dangerous mission, with no doubt massive consequences waiting for us should we fail or be discovered, should _that man_ be unable to wipe Italy's memories. Are we all ready for this?"

Allen and Flavio shared a glance, and their eyes hardened into a familiar sort of determination.

"Let's do it." The redhead American smirked.

/ / / / /

Hungary's stress about her country's politics and her relations with the European Union seemed like a faraway thing now.

Instead, she just felt warm and happy at the thought that she'll be visiting America soon.

Hungary had never thought that she'd feel this excited for a visit that wasn't Poland, Austria or anyone in her rather short list of European friends in quite a few years, but it felt great to feel this happy again about it again.

But this was more than just excitement at the new prospect of travelling to an alternate dimension. No, no, it's a lot more than that. She liked this. She liked this… this budding new friendship she's having with America. It felt good to have someone else understand her. It felt good to discover more about someone and grow closer to him as a friend when you never thought it possible.

She smiled fondly. It's America she's looking forward to visiting. However, it's just as nice talking to him now.

"I still can't believe you stopped me from kicking that oaf." Hungary grumbled in a playfully upset tone.

America laughed nervously. "Come on, don't you think you were going a little too far, dude?"

"…He nearly claimed Austria's vital regions."

"So you had to try to crush his balls to dust with your frying pan for it?"

They were having a fun chat via their computers, because why not?

Just because they'll seeing each other in a few days, didn't mean that they couldn't talk in the meantime. They've decided on becoming better friends after all. They had a few things they needed to discuss about the coming visit anyways, so there wasn't anything stopping them. So, they talked it over and decided

Budapest and Virginia's only six hours apart, which helped with the planning quite a bit and they easily decided on a time to talk where they both had plenty of free time. And right now, it's currently morning in America's house while being afternoon in Hungary. It was perfect, and it gave them plenty of time to work on their new and improved friendship.

"Man, you're a riot, Hungary." America chuckled amiably.

"You flatter me, Alfred." Hungary smirked.

And it's also a great chance to finally ask an important question.

"You know, you never explained to me about the portals." Hungary reminded him.

"Ha. Aw yeah, I never did, didn't I?" America laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "We kinda got distracted over that whole thing with Poland and Taiwan."

Remembering that whole fiasco, one of Hungary's eyes twitched. She really didn't want to go into that. "Yeah, it was really distracting. Anyway, will you explain this time? Or is Taiwan going to pop up and try to drag you away again?"

Hungary bit her tongue regretfully when she realized that her words came out sounding bitterer than she would've liked. Then she remembered that America wasn't exactly the best at reading the atmosphere or the mood, if the way he's smiling without any change was indication.

"Nah, I'm alone here. I think…" America's brows knit together in suspicion and he started looking around warily. "Unless that _commie_ set up cameras in my house somewhere…"

She couldn't resist the laughing at America's silly but not exactly misguided sense of paranoia. "I'm sure you're fine, Alfred."

"You sure you're sure? 'Cause I remember this one time when–"

"Oh come on, can't you indulge a woman's curiosity?" Hungary said playfully.

"You sure you got the time for this, Liz? It's gonna take a bit of a while to explain it all." America looked a little uncertain for some reason.

"I have time." Hungary assured him, smiling sweetly. "Besides, we chose to chat at this time because we'd both we awake and have no work to do, didn't we?"

"Hmm…" America seemed to mull it over for a minute before brightening. "Okie dokie, let's start with the simple parts. So listen up, okay?"

Hungary nodded and paid full attention. She wouldn't want to miss any of it.

"You wonder why I'm the only one who knows about the other world? You know, even though we have more than a few nations with the magic touch and one of them's bound to discover something sooner or later?"

Not even twenty seconds in and Hungary's already raising an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't believe in magic. You always argue with England about it."

America's grin was just devilish. "Nah, I just do it 'cause it's funny seeing him mad. And hello, _portal?_"

"Alright, point taken." Hungary found herself laughing again. She would've done the same, honestly. "But that did come up in my mind at one point, to be honest. What's the explanation?"

"The answer is barriers, dude." America's eyes were glimmering in excitement similar to when they first arrived in the Dark World. "There's a barrier between our worlds that prevents anyone from going over to the other side or detecting it."

Hungary nodded slowly while humming in understanding. Alright… Alright, so there were barriers between their worlds that not only prevent anyone from either side from crossing to the other, but also prevent them from discovering that there's an alternate world. Alright, that's easy enough to understand. So far, so good, she supposed. Yeah.

"And these barriers are powerful enough that no one with magic would ever… discover them?" Hungary asked, just to be sure.

"Yup! Both sides are completely blocked from each other. But like Gil said, I'm the only one with the power to get through them." America beamed, looking pretty damn proud of that.

"Gillen and Flavio did mention you that you were the only one who had that ability," Hungary recalled from the meeting in Central Park. "Why is that?"

"I'm the one who's gifted with the power, but Allen's only connected. He can't cross but he can reach out to me through reflective surfaces. It's probably some kind of side effect from him being my counterpart. Didn't stop him from trying to break through anyways though, not that it ever made much of a difference." America replied easily, almost a little too quickly, with a fond smile.

Hungary's lips twitched. "That doesn't explain why you're the only one who can do that."

She was taken aback by how quickly America's smile vanished. "You wouldn't believe me."

If things hadn't gotten so serious, Hungary would've burst out laughing at that ridiculous statement. She still smiled wryly, however. "Oh, really? After everything I found out that day? You can tell me that you have a zombie army in your Area 51 and I'd believe you."

But America wasn't amused, if anything, he looked _pained_. "I _don't_ want to talk about it."

Now Hungary's smile fell off her face. "Why not?"

She couldn't quite make out the emotions going through; only that he's anguished and conflicted. He hesitated, "…I… it's… _personal_."

"As in, the painful kind?"

"Y… Yeah, _that_ kind." America's voice was surprisingly quiet and his face nearly blank as he stared away from the screen, from her.

It was hard to ignore the crushing guilt developing in Hungary's heart, not helped by how part of her still wanted to press him for the answers she wanted. He looked so anguished.

"W-Well! There's no need to worry about that, Alfred," Hungary quickly assured him with what she hoped was genuine enough cheerfulness. "I'm sorry for pressing it."

Sky blue eyes blinking, America slowly looked up at her with a puzzled expression. "You… don't mind?"

"Of course not," Hungary waved her hand, snorting, and putting on her best smiles in hopes of seeing his again. "I already really appreciate what you did for me, especially when you didn't have to."

"Th-Thanks, Lizzie."

"You don't need to thank me." Hungary felt an easier smile, really glad that he "So, about these barriers..."

"Oh, right! So anyway, you got these barriers, and there's nothing you can do to get them to open," America continued his eager explanation, his enthusiasm and the sparkle in his eyes renewed. "Nothing, except for one thing."

"And what would that be?" Hungary asked, feeling that they've reached the really intriguing part of the explanation.

"That brings me to this next. In order to understand why this is possible, you need to understand one thing first. You know everyone on the other side's the opposite in personality of everybody here? I mean, of course you know, but the point is, you know a lot of things of different there, right?"

"How could I not?" Hungary cracked a smirk. "Prussia has an actual charming personality, there's a red sun, nations don't have bosses there, leaves are pink and the grass is purple. It's all wonderfully bizarre."

"Well, it kinda looks like it's the same for, like, everything else in that world.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean it's not just the nations, the sky, nature or the history that's different. Many historical figures seem to be the same, but even then there's a couple difference with the different histories and stuff. Point is, everything there is different, one way or another. Nothing seems to be _exactly_ the same in that world."

Hungary had no idea where this could be going. But she had already understood the opposite/different nature of the world, so this part wasn't difficult to grasp. "You mean that _every_ single thing is different from our world?"

"Yeah, it's all different one way or another. No building's in the same spot as in the other world, no tree, no photo on your nightstand, no crack in the sidewalk, _nada_. And even if they are in the exact same spot, the two things' appearances or composition will usually be too different to ever be considered the 'same thing', y'know?"

What? Her reaction was one of mild bafflement along with shock as she was left staring at the screen while America stared back expectantly. Did the differences really go that far?

Hungary had already figured out the opposite theme of the worlds both during her visit and the days that followed where she looked back on it. She supposed it made sense, on a thematic level. Light and darkness, two opposites, and here you have the Light World and Dark World, so of course things would be wildly different as evidenced by the _delightful_ version of Prussia she wished would be roaming this earth instead the oaf they're stuck with.

But everything was different, down to the little details? It wasn't so shocking as it was… strange.

"N-No, I think I'm wrapping my head around it. But how do you know all this?"

Hungary wasn't sure how America could know if a crack in a sidewalk was a few inches off from its counterpart in the other world.

"Research, Liz. Didn't spend every time in the Dark World just hanging around, you know. Naturally, I wanted to know how this whole world worked and Allen and the boys were cool enough to help me out. Tony's tech was a big help in figuring it out too."

Ah. That made sense. It's common knowledge that America had a very curious mind, of course he'd want to have a logical explanation for everything. Hungary could understand. If she was in his shoes, she'd also want to know just how different the Dark World was from this one, as well as how the entire jumping to another dimension worked.

As for Tony, America's mysterious alien friend… Well, Hungary was no stranger to the weird. She's weird herself. So, unlike a normal person, she just accepted that as if it were completely reasonable and normal.

"Oh, that makes sense." Hungary said calmly, probably too calmly.

"We think it's some kind of law with our worlds." America mused, eyes brimming with fascination. "Everything's different so why should something be the same?"

Hungary pondered about that. It's still an odd law. Why must everything be different? She didn't have long to delve into that, as America abruptly continued.

"Here's an example: You ever wondered why you never saw the Statue of Liberty in the other New York City?"

"Now that you mention it, that does strike me as a bit odd." Hungary realized, leaning her head on her palm.

"That's 'cause there is no statue of Liberty, Liz," America smiled darkly. "In the Dark World, France Pants never gave Al any statue, they're not even pals."

Hungary blinked, digesting that new surprising information. "Oh. Then there is no giant statue."

"Actually, there is. In its place, you'll find the Statue of _Justice_."

Hungary couldn't help snort at that despite the sudden somewhat serious mood in the air, "The Statue of Justice?"

There's something cute in the way America sighed. "Yeah, I know. It's _kinda_ cheesy. But trust me, it's awesome. Just don't laugh about it when Al's in the room, that's one way ticket for an hour-long lecture for _why_ it's not cheesy."

She gave a wry grin. "Noted."

"Good. So, you know how the Statue of Liberty's modeled after this Roman goddess of liberty? Well, this one's modeled after a goddess of justice, _Justitia_, I think. You know this winged gal with the blindfold? Flavio gave it to him."

"Really?" It was the only thing that flew from her mouth. It was an interesting piece of trivia though.

"Yeah, real cool. But the point is, because they look vastly different and even placed a couple inches away from the other's positions, they're following the law of the world by being the 'opposite' or at least, 'different' from our world."

So basically, everything in the two worlds must be different from each other, either slightly or radically it's still following the so-called rule of the world? How odd.

Hungary took a glance around her room, at all the furniture, the windows and other items in it. She started to wonder if any of it was anything like the other Hungary's house. Then again, that would require for her counterpart to live in the same house in the exact same spot… right?

"So… if I'm following this, let's say that there's also an Eiffel Tower in the Dark World…" Hungary began carefully, praying that she's getting it right.

"There is, actually. Looks a little shabby though…" America merrily interjected.

"Oh. A-Anyway, so since there is an Eiffel Tower in the Dark World" Resuming her theoretical question, Hungary fidgeting her fingers while her face scrunched up. "If it's in the exact same spot as the one in our world and looked more or less the same, would it count as 'the same thing'?"

"Bingo! Now you're getting it!" America cheered, laughing boisterously.

"And if… say, the _top_ part got blown off somehow, it would… no longer qualify?"

"No, it'd still qualify. Top or not, it'd still be in the same spot as the version in other world."

"But if the tower just a single inch off from being in the exact spot as the other tower, it wouldn't qualify then, right?

"Nope, it wouldn't qualify. Hey, you're really getting it!" America gave her a thumbs-up, looking _very_ happy.

Hungary felt a surge of joy at the praise as well as just the smallest bit of smugness. Ha, take that, England! She wasn't an _idiot_. Something still didn't add up however.

"But what does any of this have to do with the barriers?" She looked at him questioningly.

"I'm getting to that. I don't know why, no one else does, but one of the rules for our worlds seem to be that nothing must be the same, or just extremely similar." America began explaining. "By something being the same, like a building being in the same spot as the one in the other World, or a shelf being placed on the same wall, it's breaking the law. They're contradictions, anomalies, and they're super _essential_ for the portal to work."

"You mean they shouldn't exist?" Hungary asked in a puzzled voice, and then something occurred to her. "Everything's different or out of place in the other world, so something like that has no reason to exist."

America practically sparkled. "Yeah, exactly! And because of these contradictions, the space, reality or whatever gets really messed up and confused, since again, they shouldn't exist since they defy the laws of nature of the world.

"But why would they exist if they're supposed to?"

"We don't know, but that's beside the point. What's more is that there's no way for the world to correct that contradiction unless someone ruins the 'sameness' themselves. The two identical things become connected since, as far as the worlds are concerned, they're the same. Then the space around the objects gets all messed up as the barriers get confused with the contradiction in that area."

"What do you mean by 'confused'?"

"I mean that the barrier starts to weaken, I mean really weaken," Immediately after saying that, a sly smile made its way to America's face. "More than enough for a guy who already had a connection to the other world via Allen to be able to open a hole and jump to the other side and back."

With a wink, America's smile broadened and he leaned back in satisfaction.

"And that, Lizzie, is how the whole portal thing works."

…Well, this was a little complicated. She wasn't going to lie; she's wracking her brain trying to properly wrap her head around all this. Wow. But at the same time, it sounded so fascinating that she didn't have in her to feel annoyed by this.

"Wait, how do you know these places you go to are anomalies? How do you find them?" Hungary asked while trying really hard not to get a headache. It's not _that_ complex…

"Back then, I knew because I can feel… _something_ around them, call it a gut feeling. I had to rely on luck then." Shrugging, America proceeded to keep grinning "But ever since Tony showed up, he's helped a lot in finding them."

"And… how do you _open_ a hole to another dimension?" Nothing about what happened there in the supply closet resembled anything like opening a hole.

"Hm, well, it's pretty specific." America said thoughtfully, staring off at something off-screen again. "Obviously, I have to go straight to one of these things, and if I want to go hop to the other side, the whole darkness thing happens and that's that."

"It just happens when you want to go?"

"Yeah, but that's the important part. I need to _want_ to the Dark World. It won't work otherwise."

Hungary felt that was a bit of a curious detail.

"So, on the bright side, if God forbid one day I get found out and some jerk threatens me into taking them to the Dark World, it won't work." America stated smugly as he reverted to a more cheerful state. "Because even if I want to go in order to go along with the jerk's demands, I don't actually wanna _go_, you know?"

America's loud laughter resounded in Hungary's mind as the woman remained absorbed in thought, digesting all the information, while the blonde remained cheery waiting for her.

Okay… Okay, okay, with every minute that passed, this didn't seem so bad. Sure, she needed a while to fully understand it, but that's expected, no?

Hungary nodded slowly and took a deep breath before saying, "So, let's see if I'm getting this right – I'm sorry, it's just that it's taking a little effort for me to wrap my head around this…"

"S'okay, Liz. If ya got any questions, I'll answer 'em." America chirped helpfully.

"Yes, well, thank you." Hungary gave a grateful smile before going back to her thoughts. "So… there are barriers between our worlds that prevent anyone from crossing or knowing about each other."

"Uh-huh."

"There's absolute _no_ way through them except through these… _anomalies_."

"Uh-huh."

"Right, so, these anomalies are the result of two items or spaces that are exactly the same as the one in the other world, which shouldn't be possible because everything from the sky to the nations to the buildings is different or located a little off from their counterpart."

"Uh-huh."

"And since they're not meant to exist, the barrier starts to weaken enough for your powers to allow you to open a portal to the other world and go through it." Hungary finished, blinking before quickly adding, "That is, if you truly want to go the Dark World in the first place."

America's rapid nodding and splitting grin allowed Hungary to feel a wave of relief as her shoulders sagged. She nearly let loose a sigh and laughed. Yes! Yes, she got it! This would teach those pricks at the European Union for calling her dense.

"Aw, man, Hungary. I wish I had some confetti. You totally nailed it, dude!"

Hungary laughed tiredly, both in joy and relief. "Well, this is… a little more complicated than I would've thought. Granted, I didn't really know _what_ to expect…"

"But it's way cool, right?" America asked excitedly, leaning forward.

She grinned. "Yes, really cool."

This week was just full of surprises, but good ones. And Hungary again couldn't be happier that America decided to include her.

/ / / / /

Flavio wasn't nervous. He wasn't nervous at all.

He anxiously pushed up his sunglasses, conscious of the tiny listening device implanted on one of the hinges, and returned to wringing his hands as he sat in a taxi headed towards the port his brother had stated they'd meet at.

Goodness, he could just feel his palms sweating. Ugh. How disgusting.

He shouldn't be so nervous. Yes, this was Luciano they're dealing with but victory wasn't impossible. They've won before. So maybe the fact that he's all alone at the moment in a dreadful country wasn't helping things either. No big deal, he had worked alone before.

And besides, he wasn't actually alone.

Allen and Gillen had decided on traveling to Venice with the _magical_ help of _that man and his brother, _teleporting straight to the dreadful capital and proceed to go along where they overheard they needed next instead of traveling via plane like Flavio and risk detection. It was a solid plan, yes, yes it was.

So far, everything seemed to be going well enough. Not too good that warranted suspicion that something wasn't ring and not bad to the point where there's no chance of them succeeding. Yes, things were going just alright. No metal detector had detected the device, which Allen was more than smug about no doubt, and Flavio was confident that his acting skills had helped him remain inconspicuous.

But, unfortunately, none of that was making the fear go away.

He just couldn't help it. Flavio always felt this way when it came to his brother. Luciano was a loose cannon, predictable but also unpredictable and he's capable of hurting you in the worst ways possible. But believe him when he says that he hated feeling this fear.

Get ahold of yourself. Come on Flavio, think about what Grandpa Rome would say if he could see you.

Oh, wait. He hated his grandfather and didn't give a damn what he thought. Not only did he hate him (and still do, by the way), he deliberately went against everything that bastard stood for to spite him and actually build a happy life for himself after that old coot and Flavio's own cowardice screwed Luciano over. _Whoops_.

Damn him. Flavio bit his tongue to prevent an involuntary curse from slipping out. Damn him to hell.

Still, if there's anything he _loved_ besides fashion, Gillen and Allen, his country, and yelling at his mafia, it was proving his grandfather _wrong_. And he'll prove once again to his grandfather, while of course completely ignoring his existence because the bastard would just _hate_ that, that he wasn't a coward _or_ weak. They're going to walk away from this, regardless of what will occur, and Flavio won't let himself wither.

Especially if his worst fears were right and Luciano had found- No, bad Flavio. Stay positive. It'll help with the nerves. You're supposed to be the positive one. And even if he was right, which he hoped wasn't the case, things will turn out alright.

Everything will be fine. Gillen had said it, that man had said it, even Allen, for all his touching worry for him, had said it.

Well, no use standing here just twiddling his thumbs while his brother waited (impatiently) for him. He won't get the answers he wanted – needed - this way.

And answers were what he wanted more than anything else right now, along with having his fears proven wrong.

/ / / / /

Somehow, all this dang paperwork didn't seem that stressful anymore.

Or maybe that's because the nation who was working on them was smiling-nonstop, even more so than usual, and brimming with positivity even in the face of every nation's worst nightmare and four days having had passed since his latest adventure in the Dark World.

But with each day that passed, he came one day closer to when Hungary's coming over, duh!

Oh boy. Who would've thought that he'd end up having a buddy to go world-hopping after all? Sure he's an optimist to the end, but America had more or less became long resigned to the fact that Tony might be the only other inhabitant of the Light World to ever see the other side. Friendships with nations come and go. There's no telling just which friend will end up becoming a hated enemy in the future.

America's gone through that enough times to feel anxious about every single one of his relationships.

But with Hungary, he… Man, he didn't know. It just felt right. They both totally understood each other's own brand of craziness. She's real nice and she stood up for her beliefs even when getting flack for it. How could he not admire that? He's really looking forward it.

He wished he could talk about it with his good old pal, maybe help improve the cranky guy's opinion of her even more, but lately Allen hadn't been showing up in any mirror. No appearance, no voice, no nothing. Allen's gone completely silent, which, from all the years America had known him, wasn't exactly common.

America honestly wondered what Allen could be up to make him go so quiet, and that's when he belatedly remembered with a snort, that his dopplergangster's currently dealing with the stress of a possible World War on the horizon all thanks to a psycho Italian.

Duh! Dude, how could he forget about that? He smacked himself on the forehead. He saw how on edge Allen was. In that case, he hoped that Gillen and Flavio were making sure to help him with the stress. America knew he could count on them to help his redhead pal through this mess. But if Allen needed some extra help, then America's here for him whenever he'd need it.

Well, whatever good ol Al's up to right about now, America hoped it's fun.

**Yeah the visit's gonna be in the next chapter, since having too big of a timeskip in one chapter might feel too rushed. I know it's not much but I hoped you liked it. I also hope the explanation for the portal is comprehensible and sorry if it's a bit of an exposition dump but it's something I thought I needed to do. Fingers crossed I can get the next one out earlier than in a month this time! Please review, if you have a minute.**


	18. Long Week: End of the Week

**Thanks for the reviews! I... failed. Yeah, I failed to update earlier. I'm sorry about that. I don't understand why I keep getting writer's block for this story. Still, I'll just keep trying until I find a way to break out of this habit. Now, on with the show!**

Forgive him, but Japan was still not quite convinced of the chances of efficacy of Italy's plan.

He would tell him this, actually had told him this one few times before, but the annoying man would just grow more agitated with each time. And as (very) amusing it was to make Italy angry, neither of them was nearly stupid enough to be childish or violent in the middle of such a delicate operation.

Japan still had to spare an annoyed glance at Italy's back every now and then while they waited for their guest to arrive.

For some reason, Italy wanted to use this little brotherly meeting to convince that flamboyant brother of his to join them. Japan might've already mentioned his failed attempts in dissuading Italy from this, and as one might guess, the latter still insisted on being stubborn. Tch. No, he insisted that South Italy will join their side once and for all and that Japan had nothing to worry about. He had a plan, Italy said.

Honestly, if Italy wasn't such an interesting person and offered so much-needed amusement in his life, Japan would've already had beheaded him by now for being so fucking cryptic. But he will trust him… for as long as Japan saw that it'll benefit him.

They were. A cute little port. Japan smirked. Italy chose this place just because he wanted his brother to _know_ there's no way to escape from here. The only way to escape would be jumping into the water and swim away... until you eventually drown.

But Japan knew better, and thankfully, so did Italy. The man had put many soldiers and spies in the area, keep an eye on who came and gone, or rather, keep an eye for a certain uncouth American and his foolish knight in shining armor. And Japan will be damned if he wasn't keeping his guard up to.

Even Germany, that rude sloth, had his ears and his opened for his beloved older brother. Oh, did Japan forget to mention him? To be honest, even he forgets that the European was also here with them. The whole trio was here. And if anything, that helped alleviate Japan's irritated mood.

Italy would never insist on having them work together if it wasn't important… or interesting, for that matter.

However this event might go, Japan's determined to make this worth his time, and have as much fun as he can.

/ / / / /

It's taking a huge effort on Allen's part to not be in constant disgust of this place and not express it. He hated Venice. It's a shithole that went without saying. At least not it's not a dirty shitstain hellhole like Moscow, or a grimy city that reeked of something he didn't want to know about like… just about anywhere in Canada. But what really grinded his gears was how this place tried to hide the shittiness.

This place wasn't hideous. Oh, it wasn't. Here, the buildings were actually nice enough to look at, if you ignored the piss poor state of some of them near the port and that damn smell. So, yeah, nice architecture, he'll give the bastard that. And if you look at all this and just happen to be unaware of who ran this place, you'd be forgiven for thinking that this seemed like a sweet tourist destination.

Ya don't see any pitiful beggars or homeless on the streets, but only 'cause they never last long in these places. Not with someone like Italy in charge. If you pay attention, you'll notice the fear oozing from the humans in the area, how wary they are and how they try to hide how much they wanna run, and run far.

At least Canada and some others were honest about being shitholes. And at least China actually puts a hell lot effort into destroying anything gross or uncivilized in his country. This was just pathetic. God, did he seriously just compliment those assholes in a way?

Ugh, forget about that. Wonder how Flavio's doing right about now?

Gillen took the damn thing from him 'cause Allen wouldn't leave it alone… and maybe because he almost crushed it in frustration once or twice.

"Everything seems to be going well so far," "Still, we cannot our guard down. Italy might be anticipating our plan."

"No shit, Sherlock," Allen said gruffly, "Sorry, sorry, I'll… be on the lookout and stay inconspicuous and shit."

"I know you won't," Gillen said sincerely with a nod, which Allen really appreciated "And let's pray and hope that Flavio will remain unharmed throughout the ordeal and our goal will be completed without a hitch as they say."

Allen gave a curt nod. He didn't trust no god, but dammit, he'll take what he could get for Flavio's sake. "Y-Yeah… Let's do that."

Allen hated how his voice cracked there for a moment. He hated how small his voice sounded. He hated acknowledging that he felt fucking terrified for Flavio.

"I still don't like how we just left him on his own."

"We didn't abandon him, Allen." Gillen assured him in that ever-patient way of his. Just how the hell did he have enough to put up with Allen? "And he is not alone. We are here following his every move with the intent of saving him when the time comes, are we not?"

"That doesn't mean I have to like it!"

Gillen's eyes narrowed sharply. "And you think I am perfectly at ease with this?"

Allen flinched, despite himself dammit. "I- I didn't mean –"

Gillen's hard expression softened. "I know you didn't. Please, don't worry."

He wanted to do that, he really did, but Allen couldn't help let his anger and worry get the better of him.

"My, Allen, that's quite a scowl you have there." Came a serene voice that Allen instantly recognized.

He nearly flinched and whipped his head back to see none other than their smiling partner-in-crime, completely without the emotionless partner-in-crime.

Allen knew that Prussia was frowning, but he didn't call attention to it and just tried to ease up his scowl. "Oh, Kaf. Is there something you need?"

"Nothing at all, but thank you for asking," Kaf politely replied with a broader smile. "I thought I'd see how you were doing."

"I'm fine, Kaf." Allen replied quickly with a huff, maybe a little too quickly.

"That near-frantic look in your eyes begs to differ." The guy pointed out in an obviously amused tone, that bastard. He raised a hand just as Allen hunched his shoulders. "Be at ease, Allen. It'll be alright. I promised that I'll get the three of you out of this pitiful piece of land in less than a blink of an eye, even that Knight in Cheap Armor here."

Gillen raised an unamused eyebrow, and Allen would've cracked a smile if he wasn't so damn wracked. "I know you will, Kaf."

"And it warms my heart that you have so much faith in me." Kaf smiled easily, which broadened into a full-blown grin that oozed something dark upon turning towards Gillen. Oh boy, here we go… "Ah, and I haven't forgotten you, Gil. It was... _fascinating_ to have heard that you had vouched for me."

"I could never deny your abilities." Gillen said simply in a polite tone. If he was bothered, he sure as hell was doing a good job hiding it. Either way, Allen's thankful.

The man hummed in response, stroking his chin. Anything could tell from that smile that he was smug as hell. "My, is that so? How amusing, to hear that from you."

Gillen cocked an eyebrow. "Are you trying to imply that I am lying?"

"No, you don't have it in you to speak empty words." That guy practically deadpanned, then his face twisted into a sneer. "I just find it funny that you consented to trust your own safety, and that of Allen and Flavio, to me when you cannot seem to trust me with almost _anything_."

Just like that, the tension _skyrocketed_. Allen of all people became the awkward third wheel as his two buddies (well, technically, one older brother figure and one borderline creepy friend, but screw it) entered a damn nerve-wracking staring contest.

Shit. He oughta intervene before things could get ugly, but leave it to Gil to always be the pacifist.

"This is hardly the ideal place and time to bring up old grudges," Gillen stated very carefully, his right hand slowly going to grasp the cross hanging around his neck. "We are here united against a common foe that possibly has a plan that concerns the safety of us all, not to snap at each other."

For a long time, Kaf didn't dignify Gil with a response, only staring at Gillen with those cold eyes that the former only reserved for, y'know, '_special'_ kind of people. Part of Allen was worried that Kaf might refuse to back down. That guy knew how to carry a grudge. Just ask his sister.

Allen released a breath he didn't know he was holding when the guy finally dropped the creepy stare.

"…Indeed. I could not agree more." Kaf said coolly, but it sounded like he was putting a bit of restraint into it. He straightened himself up and his amber eyes narrowed. "Well, I believe I should not remain here any longer. I will go back to lie in wait in the shadows, right where I belong."

Allen nodded and watched as Kaf started taking a few steps back into a more hidden spot in the dark. Then he just couldn't bring himself to stay quiet. "Wait!"

The man stopped in his tracks and looked curiously at Allen. "Yes?"

"I just want to say– I really appreciate you doing this for us." Allen meant that every single bit. He looked, "You didn't have to, but you did, and I… thanks."

Dammit, he's not good at expressing himself like this, like with saying thank you and shit. It's always so much easier when he's pissed off. No risk of looking or sounding pathetic there.

But thank Washington; it looked like he did okay. The bastard in front of him smiled at him, and Allen knew that it was sincere.

"Your thanks are unnecessary, my friend. I would never ignore you in a time of need, especially when it involves matters considering Italy." His buddy said sincerely with a smirk. Allen caught the faint hint of contempt for the bastard.

Okay, that made Allen.

"So you promise you'll keep your distance? Stay somewhere where there's absolutely no chance in hell they'll detect you?" Allen gave a pointed glance at Gillen at that last part,

"I would be a fool if I didn't, Al. Italy will no doubt be on the lookout," Kaf snorted, as unconcerned as always, before shooting a reassuring smile. "My brother and I will stand ready and wait for your signal."

Allen nodded, his expression serious. "Then you get us the hell out of here without Italy even realizing it was us."

"I'm looking forward to it." Kaf flashed one of his smirks before slowly turning his back to Allen, "Well, I should return to my position. I imagine it shouldn't be long now. You should retreat further into your spot too. See you till the signal, my friend… and Gillen."

"We will see you then," Gillen agreed without a single hint of hostility while regarding Kar with scrunity, nodding.

Allen tried not to frown and gave one last small smile. "Yeah, see ya in a bit."

And without any further words, Kaf waved his hand and vanished in a flurry of flames. Allen didn't even flinch, and just scoffed. Kaf always loved his exists.

"He seems quite at ease with all of this." Gillen noted solemnly once the dramatic exit was over, staring at the spot where their friend once stood.

Allen suppressed the urge to groan and roll his eyes. "Man, you always find something to nitpick."

"I'm only saying, Allen, he has asked so few questions and been quite accepting of our desire to obscure some details of this mission." Gillen said calmly, and before Allen could try to respond, he added, "I am not accusing him of disloyalty. I just find his actions and behavior odd."

He still wanted to say something on the damn matter, but no use starting something over nothing, especially in their situation. So Allen kept his mouth shut and went back to surveying the area impatiently with his hands in the pockets of his jackets. Then, as if the universe wasn't about to let him relax even for just a bit, a creeping thought wormed its way into his mind. _Hey, you know…_

Allen didn't know if he's being paranoid or just stupid, but he always trusted his gut instincts. Moreover, he might not like it, and Gillen may be an uptight guy at times, but Allen always trusted that he knows what he's talking about. And his gut's telling him that Gil's… kinda right. Kaf did seem a bit too compliant and cool about all this, and by this he meant friggin' everything. Italy's weird-ass behavior, the mission itself, promising to keep his distance like it's no big deal…

Even from the very beginning, Kaf showed almost no sign of worry. Well, yeah, that's normal about Kaf. He always kept a cool head and had a way. But…

Hey, could he actually know…?

Nah, that can't be. Allen shook his head, flicking himself in the forehead for thinking that. Jeez, Gil's paranoia must be rubbing off on him…

Then he wanted to bang his head against a brick wall for that other stupid thought. But he couldn't, 'cause they're this was supposed to be a covert mission, so he just settled for sliding his hands down his face and mentally bashing himself with a baseball bat. All the while Gillen looked at him like he was crazy.

God, the fuck's the matter with you, brain?! This was Kaf they're talking about here! He's one of those people who just somehow seemed to know a whole lotta everything. And then there's his whole shtick about talking to Satan or some being from hell in his spare time… Allen wasn't sure how trustworthy a guy like that could be, but Kaf just laughed whenever he brought it up, so…

That guy worked in mysterious ways. Even after almost a full century of being friends with him, Allen just knew that there's plenty of things that Kaf hid him from him. It wouldn't surprise him at all if turned out that…

Shaking his head, Allen rubbed his forehead and sighed loudly in exasperation. Shit, what was he supposed to make of all this crap?

"Allen, it's Flavio! They're here!"

/ / / / /

Lithuania never thought he'd hate Cuba and Argentina so much as did right now.

The dark-haired Baltic cursed under his breath for the umpteenth time as he glared at the computer screen as if it were his most hated enemy before his expression into something calmer, but still peeved, as he tried to calm himself down. No, giving into irrational anger won't do him any good, no matter how it might help him unwind.

He had nothing against those two. Hell, he really liked them. Even Cuba when he wasn't a hot-headed idiot, which thankfully wasn't a lot. And Argentina was all-around pleasant as long as he had that stuffed bird in a safe, foolproof place and didn't ask Lithuania to visit his ovenbird aviary. They were some of the most decent people Lithuania had ever had the damn luck of meeting and Lithuania appreciated them for that.

Not only were they nice, nice people, which were a rarity in this wonderful world they lived in, they were invaluable allies. Cuba, for all his hot-headedness and borderline annoying devotion to America, was a lot smarter than he looked. And Argetina, for all his creepiness and… issues, was great for giving good advice and finding ways to end situations peacefully… regardless of how fun it might've been.

But why did those two have to explicit forbid anyone from informing America?

He had had to spend the past couple of days dealing with the humans stupid enough to try to infiltrate his country. Ha. Now that was fun. And it would've been even more fun if their cries didn't confirm that Latvia had told him. But Lithuania knew better than to complain.

Speaking of that brat with a borderline Napoleon Complex, he still needed Latvia to pass him all the information, AKA the proof, so that he could show it. He just couldn't just burst through the doors screaming about what's been happening under their noses. Not everyone in the group trusted Latvia and Estonia, though Lithuania could understand why.

Again, he distantly wondered if anyone outside the Alliance was dealing with this crap. They seriously couldn't be the only ones. And from what Latvia told them, there's no way that the Alliance could be the only ones having trouble with spies. They weren't the only ones.

What he had here was the proof.

Lithuania gritted his teeth as he forced himself to go through the contents in the monitor. What Latvia went through so much trouble to get…

It was plans to infiltrate different countries, both Alliance and non-affiliated, with exact coordinates. The coordinates were set to locations of historical significance.

And if Latvia's intel was correct, and Latvia was rarely wrong (not that Lithuania would ever admit that to the half-pint's smug face), Italy's looking for something in all those places, something that could topple everything down. It didn't make any damn sense; Lithuania knew that, but still.

Damn it. He just couldn't stay quiet about this. The others could thank him later.

/ / / / /

"Okay, that's it. FLAVIO, LET'S BEAT IT!"

"Now!"

_"Perdonami, mio fratello!"_

"Wha–"

"Let's get out of there! Now! NOW!"

"You're not getting away from me this time, Fla–!"

"Get us the hell out of here, Kaf! Do your thing!"

"Understood!"

Boy, it's been a bit of a while since Allen got himself into a tougher fight like that.

Of course, before Allen could even think of fully beginning to complain or laugh about the look their enemies had, he and the other boys found themselves unceremoniously falling on top of his precious furniture of his New York Penthouse, completed by plenty of noises of stuff breaking or snapping.

…Great. Now he's gonna need to replace the fucking furniture… again… for the _twelfth_ time this year.

Great, just _great_.

But there's no time to complain, dammit, he knew that. He groaned as he got to his feet, uncaring when he slightly scrapes one of his knees and accidentally touched some sharp glass, rubbing his throbbing head. Slowly, the others began to do the same. All the while Kaf and his brother stood there calmly, watching them and not having suffered at all from the sudden teleportation. Lucky bastards…

But it looks like everyone made it out alright… That's cool… and they all seemed in one piece too…

Allen uncaringly collapsed from exhaustion onto a chair that was spared from their embarrassing crash landing, covering his face with his gloved hands. God, he hated having to go through those damn portals…

Fuck. What was he sitting there complaining? Gillen and Flavio are the

"Hey. Hey! Is everyone okay here? Talk to me, dammit!" Allen yelled at them in a panic. Oh shit, oh shit. Did they break a bone with that landing?

He felt immense relief when he saw. No blood. No limbs twisted in wrong angles. No teeth missing. Perfect, yeah, perfect.

"Are we…" Gillen slightly winced as he looked around drowsily. "Are we in New York again?"

"You would at least be on your way to bleeding out while in agonizing pain if you weren't, Prussia." Kaf dryly remarked from his comfy little spot. His brother was standing next to him, stiff and still as a statue as always.

Gillen glared at him, but his attention was then stolen by the groaning Italian next to him struggling to get up, and he immediately helped Flavio.

"Mio Dio, we actually did it." Flavio gasped as he steadily got to his feet. "We actually got away."

"You act as if our chances of success were miniscule." Kaf quipped again, but he was ignored.

Dammit…

This was not what he expected to happen.

"So…" America wiped his hands and turned around to glare right at his blonde brother figure. "What the hell, Flavio?

/ / / / /

It appeared that there was not any more they could discover from the Italians.

Not that it was anything disappointing. God, please, no. Argentina was relieved that he no longer had to see anyone suffer or cause that very suffering. Now he could focus on how to make that suffering not be for nothing. Let what they did, despite having been for a good cause; help ensure the Alliance's continued safety.

Argentina was sitting at a desk, his Cuban friend and partner was standing impatiently beside him, having had refused to take a seat over how antsy he was. Despite having already gone over this, Argentina didn't blame him. This interrogation and the process of gathering and picking apart the information they had acquired took a lot longer than either of them had expected.

But now here they are.

His ovenbird plushie friend, _Paco el Pajaro_, was situated on the desk right next to the papers, here to cheer them on in their investigation. Paco was close enough (and safe) so that Argentina wouldn't need to worry about the anxiety and the chaos that would follow. As long as it was there, and very close, Argentina could breathe easy.

Seeing it also helped with his other nerves…

"Now can we tell the boss?" Cuba pestered for about the tenth time this hour. "Come on, we've taken too long!"

Argentina hummed in consideration, scanning the last notes they have complied one more time. He wracked his brain for any inconsistency he might've missed, anything that just didn't fit. They couldn't take any risks.

His single visible eye through his mop of stringy hair could be seen narrowing.

"Si, Maximo. I think that it's about time we tell Al what we have found."

/ / / / /

_Days later, in the Light World…_

America eagerly checked his watch for the billionth as he waited anxiously in the airport.

Okay, he was right here on time. Hungary should have left her plane minutes ago. Now it's all a matter of waiting.

Why was he waiting in the airport when he should probably be somewhere else? Well, good question! He may or may not have persuaded his boss to let him drive Hungary to her hotel and to the White House by being super-duper stubborn. Yeah, it's not necessary but come on, could you really blame a dude for wanting to hang out with his buddy? Besides, turned out his boss was totally cool with it! America just had to get out of his office before he got fired.

America wasn't sure how that'd work, but whatever! Point is, he won! And he didn't lose his allowance or his rights to buy videogames for two months in the process! This day's already shaping up to be awesome.

He searched through the crowds of people coming and going out of the noisy airport, eager to spot wavy brown hair and a flower clip.

Then she finally spotted Hungary, and America wildly waved for her until she saw him.

He was glad that she looked just as happy to see him.

/ / / / /

Allen didn't tell Alfred about what happened.

Now before any of you holler at him for being a shitty friend and a moron, shut yer traps and listen. He was going to. He was going to do it straight away even before Flavio told him that Alfred had every right to know about… about _this_.

But then something else happened, another thing happened and now Allen really wished he could punch Cuba but at the same time it'd just be stupid… He just needed more time to have everything figured out. Allen didn't want to scare the guy.

However, it sure as hell didn't stop him from having one of their usual talks. Stress be damned.

Somehow, Allen had barely managed to pass off his loads of stress as shit resulting from the whole mess with Luciano (which, to be fair, wasn't a _lie_…), and they managed to spend a normal, if not depressingly short, chat together. It did cheer him up a little to hear Al's voice and bad jokes. The little guy's trying so hard to help out.

Just as Allen seriously began to consider spilling the beans (because damn, Al really had this way of… you know), America began rambling about how in a couple of days, he'll be seeing Erszi's counterpart again. Elizaveta, yeah, that's her name. She'll travel to Washington DC with her 'boss' (tch) for a diplomatic visit or some shit.

It was here that Allen was hit with an idea, and a dilemma.

Should they involve her too? She's so new to the whole Dark World thing. To Al, she's a friend, but to them, she may look like Erszi but she's still a stranger.

Would it be really worth it?

Dammit, Al, this concerned her too. He growled and combed his fingers through his messy hair. Hell, this concerned both worlds, so the more, the merrier, right? Let at least one of those damn Lightners make themselves useful. It'd be real sucky if the Darkners had to do all the work for them. Besides, if they won't tell her, then Alfred will just do it himself, that…

He grumbled under his breath. Man…

Fine. Fine. Allen won't be an asshole. They'll let her in and he'll give her a chance to prove that she deserves to have more of his trust. It's… the least he could go, he supposed. Guess Al's niceness was really starting to rub off him, huh?

He'll have to ask Gil and Flavio for their opinion first. Although, knowing them, Allen just knew what those two's answer will be.

/ / / / /

"Man, look at them go."

"I know. I had a feeling they'd get along."

Smiling, Hungary and America stood side by side against a wall while they happily watched their respective bosses on the opposite side calmly discuss different politics-related stuff and their hopes of strengthen American-Hungarian ties.

So far, this day was going as great as Hungary hoped it'd be. And it'll get even better when they execute their, and she amusingly quoted America, "Totally awesome, genius, and flawless escape plan,"

Their plan went about like this: Their bosses' bilateral meeting will be in the afternoon, but before that, they will meet in front of the press to take questions, which should be starting any minute now. Since the personifications weren't allowed to be present in press meetings since, you know, secrecy and all, America and Hungary will be allowed to leave the White House to have their... private meeting away from human supervision.

When in an international visit, the personifications were allowed to having their meeting without their bosses to discuss their ideas and plans and such to later relay to them, basically doing the same as their leaders. They could provide the humans would helpful information, advice or ideas (but of course they had to listen first) that way that their bosses might've not have thought of.

So, since their bosses will be busy all morning and in the afternoon, it left the kooky duo plenty of time to spend time in the Dark World.

Ah, there was the issue that their bosses might call them to see how they're doing, but America had just the right but weird solution for that. They'll leave their phones with Tony since they'll be useless in the other world, and if their bosses get curious, he'll use this device that allows him to impersonate their voices.

_She won't lie; it was really weird hearing her voice out of an alien with no mouth say nothing but a string of curses. Also…_

_"Do I really want to know why you have that?"_

_"What? It's great for pranks!"_

_"Uh-huh, pranks. That's what you use it for."_

_"Hey, you don't get all suspicious with me. I know about your gay spying and porn stash, dude."_

_"…Touché."_

"What'd ya think? You think we can go?"

"Hold on, Alfred." Hungary gave him a small disapproving frown. "Our bosses are in the middle of important talks! We should wait a little bit longer, just s."

America quietly chuckled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, you know what, you're right. Let's wait."

_Twenty seconds later…_

Hungary turned to him with a definitely-not-suspicious grin and whispered, "Alright, let's ditch our responsibilities."

"Awesome!" America pumped his fist while exclaiming a bit too loudly.

"Shh!"

"Sorry, sorry."

With that, so began the first phase of their so-called 'genius' plan. Discreetly and inconspicuously, America and Hungary kept their not-at-all suspicious grins on as they slowly inched away towards the exit from the room while everyone was busy invested in the two leaders answering the media's questions.

Then, when they were absolutely _completely_ sure that they were at the door, they quickly sneaked outside and closed the door as quietly as they could, both of them wearing matching mischievous grins as they did all this. America sniggered over their success, and Hungary would be lying if she didn't join in. Oh, it's so fun to be a rebel!

"How many hours do we have again?" Hungary excitedly asked her partner as they rushed through the halls of the White House.

"Well, the meeting's at four and right now it's…"America started muttering under his breath as he checked his watch, and his face lit up. "…Ten thirty. So we got about six hours to kill in the Dark World."

"Perfect." Hungary smirked. That's _plenty_ of time to themselves.

It seemed fate or whatever was on their side, because they made it out of the White House completely without a hitch. Yes! Victory. It's a good thing there's a secret passageway behind the grandfather clock. Nice to see she wasn't the only one who had one of those.

"I can't believe you have a portal to another dimension in the Library of Congress." Hungary smirked as they walked to America's car.

"Yeah, it's a pretty weird. Then again, so is every anomaly when you think about it." America shrugged it off with nothing but a typical smile and laugh. "Let's just be glad that it's somewhere in driving distance."

"What would you have done if it wasn't?"

"We'd use Tony's UFO!" America chirped, as if it was obvious.

"Oh, that sounds like– Wait, you know how to pilot a UFO?"

"Anyway, the books in Jefferson Library there need very special conservation," America proceeded to proudly explain as he completely ignored Hungary's question. "And there are over 6,000 of them too. That'd dedication right there. But the point is that it makes this a great long-lasting anomaly without needing to worry about anyone messing anything."

"So in other words, the library there has been exactly the same as the one in the Dark World for years?" Hungary hopefully assumed.

To her immense relief, in response America beamed and gave her a thumbs-up. "Exactly! See? You're getting it!

"Well, I've had plenty of time to understand it." Hungary grinned sheepishly. _And get over the headaches she got along the way…_

The ride to the Capitol building was thankfully short and before Hungary knew it, they were at their destination. The Thomas Jefferson Building, America had told her with nothing but fondness, the oldest of the four.

Hungary hoped they didn't look odd in public with their rather formal wear, but it'll hardly matter when they're in the Dark World. In all honesty, she's really looking forward to wearing that skirt again. As they went in, Hungary took some time to look around her, admiring the interior design and whatnot. She hadn't visited the Library of Congress before, but it was nice to finally see it with her own eyes.

Hungary spotted a few humans whom she naturally assumed were employees and tourists. America sent a grin at the humans with name tags and they nodded and didn't question either of them as they entered without authorization, some of them even greeted their personification as they passed.

"I visit here pretty often when I'm in D.C." America explained to her. "I can drop by anytime I want and I know everyone here. Don't worry, they won't snitch."

Hungary nodded in understanding and continued following America's lead, entering a large hall almost completely devoid of people.

"Come on, time's a wastin'!" America told her.

"_You_ try to run in these flats, Alfred. Won't someone catch us on survelliance?" Hungary whispered harshly as she threw a wary look around them. It seemed a little late to ask that but–

"Nope!" Eyes twinkling in mischief, America gestured towards the ceiling. "I sabotaged the cameras yesterday night. I planted this virus that makes the monitors go nuts for a certain time, like now!"

Hungary was sure that she was gaping like a fish. "You sabotaged the Library's security tech?"

"And I did it under two hours!" America sounded too proud of this, and he pumped his fist, quietly exclaiming "Yeah, new record, dude!"

"New record? You mean you've done this before?"

America froze in place. Then the color drained out of his face, as if he just realized he said something he should've have, and the laugh he gave was obviously fake. "Um… no…?"

Hungary stared at him wide-eyed, then she barely managed to stifle her giggling. "Oh, Alfred, sometimes I think you're actually a mad genius."

"No, I'm a hero, duh!" America puffed his cheeks, seeming offended by the remark, "It won't last forever though, so let's go dimension jump before anyone notices something's off!"

He didn't need to tell her twice. With America as the guide, they both made their quickly, but in an incredibly _non_-suspicious way, made their way to up some stairs, then down another hallway again, before the blonde finally began to slow down once they reached a door. The sign caught Hungary's eye and she read 'Jefferson Library'. This was the place.

America dug into his pockets, scrunching up his face all the while, for the keys. Part of Hungary wondered how he managed to get them; most of her mad mind was too busy wondering if at some point, America had read every single book here in record speed and memorized all of them. That and she was getting a kick out of Poland _demand_ that America add more pink to the whole place or at least books about ponies.

The thought of her old friend bummed Hungary out a little. Oh, still felt bad for keeping all of this a secret from him. Did that make her a bad friend? Was she a bad friend? It's natural for nations to keep secrets from each other but was this really… right?

Then again, nothing about this was exactly 'right' in the first place.

Hungary perked up when she heard the telltale sound of keys jingling, and it was just the thing to bring her out of her increasingly depressed mood as she felt a surge of excitement as America went to unlock the door.

A full six seconds passed before America threw a knowing glance at her. "Okay. Brace yourself, Liz."

The warning left the brown-haired woman a bit puzzled as to what her friend could've possibly meant by that. Brace for what, the trip? But once America opened the door, she was given a startling reminder.

_(Deltarune OST - The Door)_

Hungary's heart nearly jumped out of her chest when the interior of the room was revealed to be nothing but pure darkness. And her breath caught in her throat when suddenly all the lights in the hallway, no, all the light period, began to slowly dim and vanish until it appeared that n A long rectangular shadow grew out of the darkness and went past their feet, sending a chill down Hungary's spine.

Right. No, no, calm down, Hungary. This wasn't anything new, haha. The same thing happened last time, remember? And you're still alive, are you? Well, not like she'd go down so easily, but… ugh, you know what she meant to say.

"You okay, dude?" America's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and the blonde had a small worried frown on his face. "Sorry if that… uh… scared you."

Somehow, Hungary laughed, but it was weak and honestly inwardly cringed at how it sounded. "No, no, no… It's fine. Just surprised me is all…"

And by that, it really, really surprised her.

"I forgot that that happened last time too." Hungary breathed sharply, hand clutching the fabric over her chest. God, Prussia would never let her live this down if he saw her.

America offered an apologetic smile. "Yeah, that's also something you might wanna start getting used to."

"Is it like this with every single of these… portals?" She'd rather not have the dramatic effects.

"Afraid so, dude. They don't call it Dark World for nothin', y'know." Offering a comforting pat on the back, America flashed a blinding grin. "But come on, forget that! There's a world in there for us to explore."

He took a step towards the darkness, knowing already that there's nothing to fear, and he reached out a hand towards her.

Taking a deep breath, Hungary steeled her nerves, smiled back and took America's hand in hers, and together they stepped into the darkness.

The door slammed shut behind them, and the light returned to the world outside the room.

**Hope you enjoyed it! Sorry if it seemed too rushed and that it left a lot of questions. Things will be slower and all the events in this chapter will be clarified in the next, plot-heavy chapter. I'm saving it for a big reveal. Let's hope I don't spend too much time stuck this time. Please review, if you have a minute.**


	19. The Truth (Part I)

**Thanks for the reviews! And sorry for the wait. I think I'm going to stop trying to convince myself that I'll be able to go back to updating regularly, even though I do want to make more frequent updates. There's always something that gets in the way of updating this story, whether it'd be writer's block or not having the time to work on it. I hope this one makes up for the wait. Now, on with the show!**

Hungary was really annoyed to learn that she had blacked out again.

Definitely not missing the equally annoying feeling of déjà vu from the situation, Hungary's eyes fluttered open and she groaned as she was greeted with a familiar dizziness and sense of disorientation. Oh, and she had no idea why any of this happened to her, so on top of that, she's also confused as hell! Yeah, this was all too damn familiar.

Her vision was swimming a bit, making her unable to tell what her surroundings were, so she tried to blink the problem away. Groaning, she pressed her right hand on her head to prevent herself from being overcome by the feeling of the world just spinning around her. God, she did not miss this one bit. True, it's nowhere near as bad as last time, but still!

It wasn't until an embarrassing ten seconds later did she realize that she wasn't lying on the ground last time, and she blinked in surprise as slowly everything became clearer. And add another even worse five seconds to it, and Hungary realized that only was she on her feet, but something's supporting her head. Once this realization sank in, Hungary jerked fully awake and looked up

"Hey, Lizzy!" Wearing the same blinding smile, America tipped his cowboy hat in greeting. "How are you holding up?"

Hungary barely kept her brain from short-circuiting and her jaw from dropping at the sight of America suddenly wearing cowboy clothes and having a kind of surfer haircut that looked really, really hand – Er, not that that had anything to do with anything. She reminded herself that this was... a Dark World thing.

"Oh, Al… I'm fine, minus the dizziness."

"Yeah, sorry, I told ya that it's gonna take a couple more trips to get used to it."

"I hope it won't take too many." Hungary grumbled as she buried her head on America's shoulder. "Was I out long?"

"Nah. You were out for like five minutes, less than last time." "So, hey, that's cool."

"I guess… And what am I doing sitting up?"

"Though it'd be rude to leave ya on the floor again, that's no way to treat a lady you know!" America said amiably with a Southern drawl, and his smile broadened. "Oh, and I know I already told ya, but I really love the getup."

At first Hungary was confused at what he meant, then it hit her and she looked down at herself.

Oh… Oh, wow, America's right. Her outfit from last time was back. It's the exact same top and dark skirt with flowery patterns that reminded Hungary so much of the traditional clothing the women in her country wore. She had no idea what kind of mysterious force designed this outfit, but Hungary really had to compliment them on the amazing design. That is, unless they also happen to be the same bastard who changed her into it, in which case… Hungary's fingers curled around her non-present frying pan.

"Hm." Hungary blinked, faintly feeling a smile beginning to form, and then she nearly smacked herself for forgetting she was in the middle of a conversation. "O-Oh. And thank you for not leaving me on the floor again. Still, I hope this won't happen too often."

Laughing good-naturedly, America patted her shoulder, offering a sympathetic smile. "Don't worry, dude. I'm telling ya, it'll go away as you get used to the whole dimension jumping process."

"Yes, yes, you've already said that." Hungary rolled her eyes, but she was smiling wide anyways. "So, shall we be on our way?"

America nodded eagerly and got up before extending a hand towards her. "Totally! Just follow the hero's lead, Lizzy."

She gladly took his hand and allowed him to easily, and admittedly a little painfully, pull her up to her feet.

Everything looked the same except that it's… well… dark. Well, alright, technically it wasn't the same, but you get her point.

It's then and there that Hungary noticed that some things did look a little different, or out of place. And she wasn't just talking about the color scheme. A painting that looked more rectangular than the one in their world. The designs and structure of the columns looked slightly different. Those lamp lights looking taller and the lights weren't spheres, etcetera.

Hungary had to stop herself several times from getting too distracted with the different, but honestly kind of stylish, décor or risk crashing into or stepping on America's foot. Her neck was beginning to hurt from how much she moved her head around and stared up above her.

The moment they were out, Hungary's attention was once again stolen by the surreal purple sky with the red sun shining high above, still completely _not_ hazardous to anyone's eyesight, looking no different from when she was in this world's New York. It took a few moments for her to adjust and remind herself that this completely abnormal sight was… well, normal here in this bizarre place. Okay, okay…

And if she remembered correctly, then that wasn't the only thing that's different with the environment.

Her eyes drifted to the trees and the patches of grass between the streets and for a moment she was left stunned. Just like back in New York, the entire grass was a bright purple, with some blades having a more bluish hue than others, and it looked too natural to be fake. The tree trunks were so dark that they're practically black but the leaves on the trees were a rather pretty combination of magenta and a dark pink.

Goodness, this really was normal. Well, yes, of course it was. But it felt like… oh, she didn't know how to describe it… seeing it again after a week. Last week almost felt like a dream. And coming here again and seeing all the – to her – abnormalities was like confirming that her mind didn't make any of it up.

Their other surroundings weren't any less noteworthy either, of course. It drew her eye as she slowly took it all in. There weren't a lot of buildings around in this part of town – and it wasn't any different here – but the ones that were here… well, not too different from how the buildings looked like in New York, just a lot less bright and flashy. They're all dark – go figure – and most of the lights from the windows ranged from blue to red.

Again, was this some kind of trend?

Well, it's not New York, nothing like that, but it's sure still something.

"C'mon, Lizzie, let's get a move on. You know Al's not a patient kinda dude."

"You're right. We're wasting precious standing here. Let's go see what's in store for us."

"That's the spirit, dude! The car's over there. I already snatched up the keys at the library." As if to prove, there was suddenly a jingling sound and a smirking America held up a pair of keys. "It's the only mode of transportation we should use to avoid people's attention. Remember, humans shouldn't see us no matter what."

Hungary nodded her head in understand. "Don't worry, I remember."

Would a dark window really hide the fact that there's a very proud and beautiful Hungarian and a cowboy with cute surfer hair riding a car together to the sunset?

…Eh, what's the worst that could happen?

"I'm just surprised that Allen can even afford leaving a convenient means of transportation at just about every place you can pop up." Hungary remarked as they made their way to the parking lot.

"I dunno dude, you'd be surprised at the stuff we can afford." America didn't bother hiding how proud he was of that. "Don't question it and enjoy the ride.

"If you say so, Alfred." Hungary briefly cracked a smirk.

Sure enough, their ride was a surprisingly shiny and lean red car from a brand that Hungary didn't really recall and that looked strangely well combined with the weird dark yet bright aesthetic of this place. They wasted no time in getting in, starting up, and driving off into the city.

Oh, and speaking of the capital itself, it's… well… _different_. Yes, that's an inadequate description, but it's not easy to describe. Then again, nothing in this world was. More important, she wasn't sure where to start. God, again with the déjà vu…

Hungary wasn't ashamed at all to admit that she spent a lot of time gazing out the window in awe and might've ended up pressing her face and hands against the window. It sure wasn't unbelievably bright and powerful like New York City, but it's still remarkable.

All the buildings looked like a shade of black or another very dark color that made them look clear against the purple. The lights in the windows, the shops and the lampposts were all illuminated with the same colors as she saw in Times Square. Hungary instantly recognized some buildings despite the change in color. People milled up and about in the streets in their everyday business, completely unbothered by everything she considered to be totally weird or out of place.

It's… still America's capital, but at the same time, it wasn't.

"C'mon, let's go drive by the White House." America suggested, somehow managing to sound excited even when completely focused. She's surprised he wasn't driving like a glorious manic like last time, but she supposed you'd obviously had to be more careful with a car. "Just 'cause we need to be on the down low doesn't mean we can't do some sightseeing.

"Oh? There's a White House here too?" Hungary inquired in surprise. Frankly, she's surprised that here it wasn't called the Black House or something. How odd.

Then again, Black House didn't exactly have the same ring to it as White House did… Hm.

Before she could think of any questions she'd like to ask about, she realized another thing that didn't really make a whole lot of sense, and she looked at America quizzically. "Hey, hold on a second. Nations don't have bosses, right? Then why does the White House exist?"

For America's response, she was unsurprised to see him laugh, albeit more in a more relaxed way than the previous time. "Aw no, it's still a residence and a workplace for Allen. Just like how I live in the White House sometimes, y'know?"

"That big of a house for just one person?" Hungary asked bemusedly with a raised eyebrow. Then again, he did own a fabulous penthouse.

Good Lord, he must be filthy rich, that red-headed oaf…

If Hungary had that much money on her hands (and her boss was a bit more generous), she'd had a lot more gay po– I mean, something definitely PG-rated!

"Well, it's a little bit more complicated than that." America laughed again, and it quickly subsided into chuckling before that too faded, along with his cheeriness. Though his smile was still in place, his face became wistful, and his gaze went up. "But in the end, it's still a home to him, a home for both of us."

Was it just her imagination, or did he sound a little melancholy? Puzzled and honestly a little concerned, Hungary blinked twice, and looked at him more closely. America was wearing a solemn frown as he kept his eyes straight on the road, as if recalling an unpleasant memory.

Um, should she… Would it really be right for her to ask? It sounded like there's some painful history there, that's for sure, and Hungary definitely didn't want to risk causing any awkwardness or pain for America again like that time during their videochat. But, oh, she couldn't stand seeing him like that.

Before she could open her mouth though, out of nowhere America burst out laughing again like nothing. But it sounded hollow. "Eh, but I digress. I'm not gonna bore ya with a history lesson. In the end, it's still the White House."

He's avoiding the topic.

Hungary resisted the urge to frown and call him out on it. She didn't want to risk leaving him hurting, but if this was anything like last time, then maybe it'd be best if she stayed quiet about it. B-Besides, they're still in the process of becoming better friends. It'd probably be insensitive of her to press him for details.

Determined not to let the atmosphere turn awkward, Hungary quickly put on a smile and went along with it. "So, um, how often does Allen stay over at the White House?"

She felt relieved when America perked up at the topic. He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, to be honest, he kind of stays here a little bit more often than I do at _my_ White House."

"Really?" Hungary felt an easier smile as she felt his attitude becoming sincere again.

"Yeah. Al does some of his more important work there, or sometimes most of it." America cheerfully explained as he always did. She fondly noted how he always sounded excited when he explained something Dark World-related to her; it's something she honestly appreciated. "He also likes coming over whenever he feels like staying in someplace 'fancy shmancy', brush up on his bowling skills, or just not do the cooking or cleaning himself."

"That sounds like him…" Hungary remarked with one of her eyebrows twitching. He seemed like the kind of person who'd spend half his time yelling at the employees.

"I mean, come on, who can blame him? When you've got an awesome house with like over a hundred rooms, full-time chefs, a swimming pool, a bowling alley and loads of other cool stuff, it's tough to not want to kick back and relax."

"You're not exactly like that though," Hungary's lips curled into an amused smile. "From what I hear, you often like living in your houses in Virginia or Texas instead of D.C."

"'Course I'm not like that. Heroes can't afford to be lazy." America puffed his chest proudly, with a blinding smile to top it off. "'Sides, I like living it simple. All the fancy luxurious stuff just isn't for me."

Hungary's smile broadened. "Oh no, I can understand that."

She really did understand. Hungary never liked living in fancy places that much either. The memory of that dumb Turkey's dumb palace filled pillows and harem girls never failed to make her feel at least a little annoyed for reasons. When she had ended up living with Austria and had to take up domestic work, which while it didn't turn out to be all that bad, still ended up depriving her of her more boyish habits and there were plenty of memories of her just feeling… uncomfortable.

That's probably. America always had that wild spirit that reminded Hungary a little bit of herself. Even before the events of last week, he never seemed the kind of person who'd really like living in a castle or a vast mansion even if it was stuffed with his favorite things.

"Anyway, it's a sweet place. We should really have you over sometime." America suggested eagerly, his blue his shining.

That idea piqued her interest. Now that'd be fun. "You don't think that man would mind?"

"Nah. He's always happy to give someone a tour of the place."

"I'll take you up on that," Hungary smiled kindly. A tour of an alternate version of the White House… Hm, now that's exciting. "How's Allen doing, anyway? I don't think you've mentioned how he's been dealing with his situation."

It was such a simple, innocent question. Hungary expected to, maybe something that'd get either a chuckle or a groan out of her. So was taken aback when America's smile vanished.

"Actually…" America looked dejectedly to the floor, something. "I haven't heard much from Allen lately."

Hungary frowned at that. "Really? But I thought you two talked often."

"Well, usually we do. But we haven't talked much since that whole mess with the evil Italy dude cropped up." America explained, sounding rather displeased with that as his eyes narrowed slightly. It worried her. "And I've barely seen him since last week. It's weird…"

"It's probably just that, Alfred, work," Hungary tried to be optimistic for his sake. She gave a reassuring smile and waved her hand around. "You know how he went on and on about how busy and stressed he was."

Not to mention it's all thanks to that mess with this world's Italy. Hungary suppressed the urge to shudder. And they've made it clear that there's a chance a world war would break out of if everything went wrong. No matter how tough that guy liked to act, but the pressure can't be good for him.

"He did look kinda awful when we chatted a couple days ago." America said distractedly, but he hardly sounded reassured. He sounded even more worried.

Hungary wished she could say she's sure that that redheaded oaf was fine, and she genuinely hoped he was, but, oh, that'd just be naïve and presumptuous of her. Allen may have left a lasting impression, but had only known him for a single day. And obviously, she didn't have any way of knowing what the hell went on in Dark World other than from America.

"I'm telling you; maybe he was working or resting…" She told him again softly.

"Yeah…" America didn't look so sure about that. "Well, whatevs. We'll be seeing him in a bit anyway. If there's something wrong, I'll know."

It almost sounded like America's trying to convince himself rather than Hungary. Nothing else was said after that. Hungary wished that it didn't have to end there, but she hated that she couldn't think up of something to say that wouldn't sound like wishful thinking.

So much for being a supportive friend.

Oh, well… They should just stay optimistic. Everything will be fine.

Their destination was a nice house over in Georgetown Allen owned and liked to retreat to whenever he, and she seriously quoted America, 'got real sick and tired of headaches, and by that I mean people'. Or whenever he just wanted some peace and quiet for a change. Either way, his impression of Allen was hilarious and it really helped alleviate the gloomy mood.

Well, it's nice to see he's taking the positive thinking approach again.

Before she knew it, they were at the front door. Happily, America went and rang the doorbell.

Hungary knew she should be facing the door, ready to greet her strange new friends, but she couldn't help but look around her toward the house, the trees, the sky, everything. It's all so beautifully surreal. Had she said that already? Hm, probably, but she wasn't wrong.

Having spent about the entire trip as admirably excited as he could be, America grinned widely and tipped his cowboy hat while chirping, "Howdy there, Al… h-huh?"

Hungary couldn't have agreed more as she blinked in surprise. Huh?

Seeing the doppelgangers with wildly different personalities of people she'd seen known, one of whom was even standing next to her, again did catch her off-guard, honestly. It's still something she needed to get used to. A lot of getting used to.

…But something's seriously wrong here.

Gillen's attire was the same black cassock from the previous time, with the white collar sticking out and a piece of the sleeve of both arms bearing the Iron Cross. He was anxiously rubbing the cross of his necklace with his thumb and index finger, something that Hungary had easily noticed seemed to be a habit of his, usually when he's going through stress or anger. Why did he look so worried?

The wonderful ball of senseless anger that was Allen didn't look much better. And she definitely didn't mean that as an insult. His shoulder-length red hair was tied back in a small ponytail while the rest fell free. He was wearing a green army jacket over a black shirt that said, and she swore she wasn't kidding, 'I'm not racist, I hate everyone equally'. His blood red eyes now looked more tired, but the usual anger was still in there, and worryingly, there were bags under his eyes. He was staring at her grumpily,

Well, it's nice they weren't wrong about the lack of sleep…

"Good day, Alfred, Elizaveta," Gillen greeted with a voice and smile that both felt obviously forced. "I trust you've been well?"

Hungary "G-Gillen? What's–"

"D…Dude? Al?" America almost stuttered, and he raised the rim of his hat as if had to double check. Then the worried finally showed. "Jeez, what happened to ya? You look like-"

"Yeah, I look like shit, don't I?" Allen flashed a self-deprecating grin that Hungary didn't think she'd see on him, and he rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry you gotta see me like this. Least we know who the handsome one here is."

"Don't joke around, Al–!"

"You two, please, not at the door." Gillen lightly chided him with a disapproving frown, which soon softened once the two Americas fell silent. "There's a lot we need to say. But let's discuss this inside; we shouldn't keep you like this."

Thankfully, America didn't object to that. And so Hungary followed the somber men inside with worry in her heart. All of a sudden, she felt the same as she did when she had first met the three nations of this world. Awkward. Nervous. And admittedly a little scared.

They wound up in what appeared to be the living room, where the final member of their group was waiting.

And if nothing about them screamed that there was a problem, then Flavio definitely did. His clothes were… noticeably less campy than last time. The blonde didn't have his pink sunglasses from last time, but any of the aforementioned details was hardly important and didn't even stand out from one little thing: He wasn't smiling.

"Please, sit down. We have much to talk about." Gillen offered politely as he gestured towards an empty sofa adjacent to the one Flavio was sitting on.

Hungary shot a questioning look at America, who was similarly concerned and gave her a look that seemed to basically say 'let's just wait and see', sitting next to him on the sofa. Gillen sat in the middle next to Flavio was situated on the very right, with Allen joining in on the only spot remaining. It felt comfy, but it didn't little to lessen Hungary's anxiety.

"Alright, what's going on, dudes? What's with the long faces?" America demanded, voicing Hungary's thoughts exactly.

"It's… complicated." Gillen said rather slowly, still fingering his cross.

There was a scoff from Allen, but it sounded weak. "Like that's anything new."

"I'm sorry, did we come at a bad time?" Hungary asked worriedly, suddenly feeling a little bad. Wait, wouldn't America have known if that was the case…?

"It is a bad time, yes, but it's for that reason that we wanted you to visit." Gillen assured them, the look on his face nothing but grave. "A lot has happened since your visit the previous week. In fact, it was only a little after you went through the portal when it began."

"But we got straight to work." Allen added, then he almost seemed to wince. "And boy was it… something…"

"Something? What do you mean it was _something?_ What _happened_, Allen?" America as his tone grew increasingly heated.

Hungary stiffened. She felt like she couldn't stay quiet. "Alfred…"

Allen recoiled at his counterparts rising anger and raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Yeah, calm down, Al. A lot's happened, but no one was hurt. True, that doesn't mean last week's been a fun ride either, but…"

"I knew it." America suddenly snapped. Hungary tensed and found herself unnerved by the angry look on his face. "I knew something was wrong. I knew there's something you weren't telling me. Why didn't you say anything?"

"Hey, hey, it's not like that, Goldie!" Allen exclaimed, almost sounding desperate, and he gave him a weirdly pleading look. "I wanted to save the details till you visited with the frying pan lady here. This concerns her too, you know."

Hungary felt like she'd been shocked by Turkey's stupid joy buzzer again. "Huh?"

America similarly looked surprised, to say the least. "Wh-What do you mean?

"U-Um, yeah, what do you mean that this concerns me too? I'm still new to this." Hungary pointed out tentatively.

Flavio seemed to tense and avoid looking at her in the eye at that. It didn't make her feel suspicious as much as worried and more curious. Gillen glanced at him with a frown before turning to look at Hungary again.

"Ah, we're getting to that," Gillen held up a hand and she wasn't sure if it's her imagination, but there's something like sympathy in his eyes. She didn't have time to dwell on it, however, when he turned his attention towards the still solemn America. "Alfred, I understand that you feel betrayed by Allen's secrecy, but please don't hold it against him. He didn't want to risk troubling you over false information. He would rather wait until we were all completely sure of the validity of our information. And the entire process took up a lot of our time."

America pursed his lips, considering Gillen's words for a long silent moment, before he slowly looked over to Allen remorsefully. "I-I get it. I'm sorry, dude."

"Don't worry, Al." Allen assured him with a small smirk that didn't have its usual mirth. He threw a glance at the albino. "Hey, bro. How 'bout we get to the point, already?

"Ja, that would be wise." Gillen nodded in agreement. "We have recently made an important discovery regarding Italy's plans."

To her embarrassment Hungary briefly did a double take at that nation's name, before she remembered what _this_ world's version was like. "Y-You did? But… how did that happen?"

From what she recalled hearing, it sounded like Italy was almost untouchable save for a war he apparently lost badly.

"It's… a long story." Gillen said lamely, rubbing his cross a bit more slowly now.

"We got time." America assured him, looking very determined.

The bizarre trio of unlikely friends shared a glance, in the end with Gillen nodding solemnly and clearing his throat before finally speaking to the two outsiders.

"Three weeks ago, we received a tip from someone we, the Alliance, consider to be a long-time enemy," Gillen began recounting gravely, and he narrowed his eyes. Something like distaste flickered across his face, "That person being none other than Oliver, otherwise known as this world's version of England."

_"What?"_

Hungary's eyes widened. This world's England? Wha–? What's that all about? She recalled hearing that the England of this world seemed to belong in the category of nations were absolute shitheads in this place. But that's, aside from Allen's creative insults of the man and how he hated even talking about him, pretty much all she knew.

Despite that, even an 'outsider' like her could clearly see that this reeked of suspicion.

She looked at America for his reaction. The blonde cowboy appeared just as baffled and stunned as she was about this. But there's something in his eyes she couldn't quite pinpoint – Anger? Disbelief? He may wear his heart on his sleeve, but sometimes it could be a little difficult to tell what he's actually feeling.

"You're kidding. That guy called you, Al?" America asked his counterpart incredulously.

"Actually, he meant to call Allen, but I was the only one in the room when the phone rang." Gillen politely corrected, shooting a quick concerned glance at the scowling redhead himself. "I think it was for the best though."

Surprisingly, Allen didn't disagree, or even showed if he was the slightest bit annoyed by that. He only hunched his shoulders and kept his angry gaze firmly to the wall to his right as that was the source of all his problems.

"But that's beside the point. To summarize, after a frustrating argument regarding the validity of his claim of his desire to help us," Gillen's face twisted in distaste as he said this. Next to him, Allen scoffed. "He revealed surprising information about Italy."

"What about Italy?" Hungary dared ask.

"Get this," Allen leaned forward with a wry smile, "It turns out that since last week, Luciano's been sending out his spies to a lot of nations."

"Spies?" Hungary repeated in disbelief.

"Wh-Whoa, he did what?" America's eyes went wide. "Is that true? I mean, how the heck would England know about that?"

"Well, to be more exact, England told me that he found spies snooping in his country and then claimed that the same was happening to others." Gillen said, his distaste and annoyance not vanishing. "Imagine our surprise when we received reports from many of our fellow nations in the Alliance that they have discovered Italian spies snooping about in certain areas. But it's not just Alliance nations. We have discovered from interrogations that the same had happened to other nations we are not on good terms with."

What? It's not just the typical case of spying on your enemy? There were nations who have nothing to do with these guys' group and who might as well be the worst bastards this world had to offer who were on the receiving of this too? W-Well, if they weren't allied with this Italy, it'd make sense but…

This just seemed insane.

"When'd you find out about this?" America's voice came quietly.

"We didn't find out until several days ago," Flavio, who until then had been dead silently, suddenly added. He sounded somber, but at the same time it made him sound more like the other Romano. Hungary tried not to think about that. "Of course, we were also busy with our own problems…"

"'Course we would've known a whole lot sooner if Cuba and Argentina just fucking told us." Allen growled resentfully.

Hungary coughed loudly, gaining everyone else's attention, "I-I'm sorry, did you say Cuba?"

Allen waved his hand dismissively with an annoyed scowl. "Yeah, yeah, here Cuba and I are great pals. He's kinda dumb but knows what he's doing. Long history. Whatever. Continue."

_Well!_

"I wish you could've worded it more eloquently but very well," Gillen gave that exasperated sigh that Hungary had learned was a common reaction to Allen being Allen. "We had been informed that Cuba and Argentina, bless their souls, have launched a successful investigation after the latter captured the spies roaming in his land. They acquired quite a lot of useful information from them."

"Allie nearly 'thrashed' them both when he found out that they've kept the spy situation a secret from us for days." Flavio said with thinly veiled disapproval while giving the redhead a reproachful look.

America raised an eyebrow as he gave his redheaded clone a look. "Dude, really?

"I… I… Well, how was I supposed to react?!" Allen exclaimed defensively. His face was becoming almost as red as his hair and Hungary couldn't help smile. "B-But I'm over it now! Honest!"

"But why would they keep it a secret?" She asked, trying not to let her amusement show.

Her response was a scoff from Allen as his slid down from his spot. "Because of me, apparently. Those bastards convinced everybody to keep the whole damn thing under wraps because they didn't want me to get even more stressed!"

Allen nearly beat up two friends for keeping a secret? On the one hand, she could understand his feelings. Maybe it might have something to do with the fact that Hungary had a history of beating up people for doing something… stupid.

"And if your unfabulous appearance right now is any indication, they were right." Flavio unhelpfully provided, almost smiling.

Instead of looking like he was about to burst a vein, Allen just shot him an annoyed look before sighing in defeat. "I _said_ I'm over it now."

"Wait. So, like, everybody was in on the action but you guys?" America asked incredulously, and he made a noise that sounded suspicious like a snort. "That's…"

"Shitty?" Allen grumbled.

Flavio pinched his ear without even moving his gaze. "A little rude?"

"Disappointing but yet understandable?" Gillen offered half-heartedly.

"All of the above?" Hungary couldn't resist chiming in, even if it's to help lighten the mood a little. She felt a little sad when no one really reacted.

"It's… We were not _happy_ once we were finally informed of the situation. But we realized that they needed to verify the truthfulness of their information first, in case this is all part of an elaborate trap." Gillen said with a hint of exasperation in his calm tone. Something told her that he's a lot more upset by it than he let on. "And their secrecy _did_ pay off in the end."

America looked to be in a similar boat. He had this pensive look on his face as he stroked his chin. "Man, I don't think I can make sense of any of this. What did those guys find out?"

Again, Flavio tensed, but despite that he spoke up clearly. "Before we get into that, I feel like that you should know that the matter of the espionage is not the only thing information England helpfully provided."

"Huh? There's more?" Hungary blinked. Oh, she had a feeling that this was only the tip of the iceberg…!

"I'm afraid so, Elizaveta…"

By the time Flavio finished, assisted by occasional inputs by Gillen and Allen, recounting how England claimed that Italy had some kind of grand plan and the messy call from Italy (which caused her to feel a whole new level of sympathy for the flamboyant man) Hungary began to feel a headache forming from all the information dumped on them. Her concern doubled.

America looked disturbed. "Hold up, you're telling me that you guys actually went through with it?"

"Ja, it was… quite the informative experience." Gillen said, fumbling with his cross a lot less now. "But please don't worry. We had… help."

Gillen shot a quick glance at Allen as he said this.

"We made it all in one piece and thanks to the help we had, a nation who is also part of the Alliance," He said in a way that made Hungary suspect that he might be choosing some of his words carefully. "He's very skilled with magic. When it was time to escape, he assisted with teleporting us and rewriting our enemies' memories of the encounter."

Well, we could add about ten to twenty questions that have been piling up in her mind. In all honesty, it felt incredibly tempting to interrupt every now and then to have at least a couple of them answer. But she felt that the subject matter was too important for it to be bogged down by her ever increasing curiosity. Besides, all the questions were going to be cleared up later on, right?

Still, there's some things she couldn't let go, and they were important.

"Um, this is… something." Hungary felt a little dumb saying that. "But what happened when you met him in Venice? What did Cuba and Argentina find out? What's Italy's plan here?"

"Yeah, what Lizzy said." America agreed, leaning forward with an intrigued glint in his eyes. "Where are you guys going with this?"

Flavio's face twisted into something between disgust and dismay. "You'll both find this hard to believe, but all this mess can be traced back to… my grandfather."

Hungary was instantly hit with the memories of Flavio bitterly recounting about this world's version of Rome. What could someone like _that_ have to do with all this mess?

"Huh? What'cha mean, Flavio? What's Rome got to do with any of this?" Despite his understandable, and relatable, bewilderment, America's expression darkened.

Flavio was silent for a long moment, and for a brief second he looked reluctant, but then his expression hardened and he let out a long sigh before finally beginning.

"You know I've already said this, but my nonno was a piece of shit." Flavio said bluntly as he held his arms, his dull and cold eyes narrowed sharply. "And I don't mean like England, Spain, or even Russia. He was THE piece of shit. A horrible, despicable man."

"Yeah, you sure didn't spare any details about that guy." America said, frowning.

"You've made that quite clear." Hungary added sympathetically. And she didn't mean that as a snarky remark, no, of course not. Flavio breaking into tears made it clear that how bad this Rome was.

Her brows furrowed as she couldn't help compare to what their Romano would say. Romano had always offered a less tender picture of Grandpa Rome compared to how Italy would rave about him for hours or cry out to him to save him from a spider (or a mouse), but he'd never go as far as saying that he was an absolutely disgust living being.

"Was he really the worst of the worst?" Hungary couldn't help but ask. Not to downplay anything, but she had known and heard a lot of terrible people in her life, and it seemed like people here could be even worse.

How worse could a person possibly be? It chilled her to think. But if there's anything she'd learn so far, it's that this world, and by extension America, just loved to surprise her.

Flavio's hard gaze turned to her, and Hungary felt a little unsettled by his unreadable expression. For a second, she was afraid that she may have sounded insensitive, but then Flavio's shoulders relaxed a little and a bit of light returned to his eyes.

"Si, well, I guess it might be a little hard for a Lightner to imagine, or anyone else who never experienced his age." Flavio sounded understanding as squeezed his elbows and frowned. "And there are a lot of horrible people in this world. But take it from someone who lived under the same roof as him, he was the worst monster this world had ever experienced."

"And considering the number of shitstains we have, that's saying something." Allen remarked bitterly.

"It is said that not even Russia could fully compare, despite the, ahem... difference in their personal goals." Gillen made a grimace.

"Yeah, I dunno about you, bro. I'd take total annihilation over living under an oppressive shitstain any day," Allen sneered, now sounding dry and tired, before it became something like a rueful grin- "I mean, not like we'd lose."

Now Hungary was curious. Well, she's plenty curious about a lot of things about this world that'd yet to be answered. But she realized that that's hardly relevant to the main issue at hand.

Flavio pressed his right hand against his forehead and let out a long sigh. He sounded more tired than exasperated. He sounded like he'd rather do anything about talk about his deceased bastard grandfather.

It reminded Hungary a lot of Romano.

"He ruled with an iron fist. He was proud and had an enormous ego that the world couldn't possibly handle, thinking himself as superior to every person there was." Every word coming out of Flavio's mouth was dripping with pain and hatred. "Tch. What a fool… He didn't know love, didn't know compassion. He just knew cruelty and manipulation. He ruined my fratello, tried to ruin _me_."

He paused. He was gnashing his teeth and he had a complicated look on his face, like he's trying to keep himself under control. Frankly, it was a little unsettling. He took a deep, long breath and slowly exhaled.

"But that's beside the point." He continued coolly. It almost sounded like he was forcing himself to. God, just what had Rome done to that poor man…? "The point is that aside from the fact he was a demon in human skin, no who knew him could deny that he was smart. He was ambitious, a lot more than _your_ Rome ever was I'm sure. He was the most powerful empire then for a reason. But he didn't want to stop there. Europe, North Africa, West Asia, that wasn't enough for him."

Ah, Hungary nodded slowly, a complicated look on her. She immediately knew what Flavio was getting at. Oh, of course. He went in the direction just about every empire inevitably took…

"Meaning that his goal was to – you guessed it – take over the damn world." Allen bared a toothy rueful grin.

"Of course…" America muttered under his breath, to Hungary's confusion.

"However, that is not the frightening part." Gillen said grimly while occasionally sending a glance at his Italian friend. "Rome was powerful and intelligent enough that he had a chance, of actually succeeding in this goal."

Hungary's eyes went wide in disbelief. "Are you serious? Every person who has tried to take over the world always has failed. I mean, Russia could have, but he failed."

She had barely caught America mumbling resentfully. "'Cause he's a no-good commie..."

"You don't know Rome, Elizaveta. I don't think even I truly did." Flavio let out another sigh before continuing icily. "But luckily for everyone, he died before he could begin his plans."

Hm, shouldn't he sound a lot happier with that part?

"Wait. You said he died before he could start his plans." America pointed out, and his eyes narrowed sharply in suspicion. "You trying to say he had a solid plan?"

A mirthless smile was Flavio's answer. "That's right."

Alright, she didn't mean to come off as insensitive, but this wasn't answering a whole lot of Hungary's questions. She's stumped. She shook her head "But… What does any of this have to do with Italy? I mean, aside from the familial connection…"

Flavio pursed his lips, and the trio of nations exchanged knowing looks, and then he exhaled before adding solemnly, "Trust me, bella, it has everything to do with my brother."

"But... how?"

The blonde Italian smiled again, it looked normal but it obviously didn't reach his eyes. "Allow me to explain exactly what happened in Venice that day…

/ / / / /

_Several days ago…_

_The scent of seawater was strong to Flavio's nose. It was sweet, and brought a small smile to his solemn face. It almost overtook the… stinky smell emanating from the whole depressing city he was in. Almost, but not enough. Instead the smell and to something that awfully reminded him from the time he and Cuba mixed up the ingredients for Erszi's super-secret snickerdoodle recipe and ended with something horribly unfabulous instead._

_To this day, he still couldn't understand how they thought bottle caps and toothpaste were some of the ingredients at all._

_Flavio liked the sea, he also had a similar like for boats (and by that he meant fabulous cruise ships and luxurious yachts but whatever). Guess it came with representing the part of the country that had more land surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea._

_But today, it brought him nothing but dread._

_This way, every good escape route was cut off, and the idea of escape was already laughable in this country. This way, Flavio was trapped with no hope of escape._

_He'd have to dive into the water and swim like crazy away from flying bullets if he wanted the slimmest chance of escape. And that's with the hope that his paranoid but clever, so dangerous clever brother didn't have a torpedo ready._

_Flavio smiled painfully to himself. That's his brother alright._

_It'll be fine, that reassuring voice that so rarely showed up told him surely and soothingly. There's no way Gil and Al's plan will fail. And there's no way **that man** would fail them. They'll all be leaving this awful place in one piece and no harm will come out of this at all, except for Flavio's heart probably getting torn into a million itty bitty pieces in the process._

_But then why was the anxiety slowly tearing him apart from the inside?_

_He shook himself out of it as he uttered a string of Italian curses in his mind that Allen would never let him live down, reminding himself that this was so not the time to space out. Luci thrived on fear and weakness. His brother never wasted a chance to berate Flavio for it. And he might get suspicious if Flavio became distracted. He shouldn't get distracted, shouldn't any weakness show._

_Not when Luci was right here in front of him. Staring at him, dissecting him for any lies or suspicious movements because Flavio's a dirty liar but Luciano's also a worse dirty liar than him and he just felt like shit because he's keeping stuff from everybody so what good was he really please don't notice please don't notice please don't notice– _

**_Calm. Down. _**

_Everything will be fine. Gil and Allen were listening. They were there. Everything will be fine. Be positive. Be positive._

_They stared at each other, Flavio with curiosity and expectancy in his eyes while Luciano's were nothing but cold and calculating. _

_"You're here." Luciano stated as if he didn't believe it himself._

_As if he couldn't make Flavio pay if the latter tried to run._

_With great effort, Flavio managed to bring himself to smile. "Ciao, fratello."_

**I hope this wasn't too exposition-heavy. There's a lot of into to go through and I hope the flashback will help. Please review, if you have a minute.**


	20. The Truth (Part II)

**Thanks to Redbayly for reviewing. Now, on with the show!**

_Luciano didn't come alone._

_Flavio just knew he wasn't imagining the bile going up his throat as he narrowed his eyes at the two men flanking his brothers like the goons they were. One had an expression of unbelievable superiority, red eyes glowing with thinly-veiled sadistic glee. As if Flavio was an animal he's eager to tear the legs of. The other one, on the other hand, was practically emotionless. Cold. He could barely see his eyes with that cap of his, but he knew that that bastard was no different._

_You might know them both as Japan and Germany, respectably, and my, was Flavio happy to see them._

_"Japan…" He practically hissed the name through his teeth. He did it despite the (horribly strained) smile still plastered on his face. "How… nice to see you again."_

"Wait, Japan and Germany were there too?" Hungary couldn't help but interrupt.

Allen shot her a fierce glare for that, though she's already getting used to receiving them from the American lookalike, while Gillen tensed with his face darkening and there was the barest hints of distaste on Flavio's face. Hungary . She felt like she just stumbled on forbidden territory.

"They were," Flavio said unhappily. "We suspected he might bring help, but I'll admit that I was quite surprised."

"I'm just surprised. Our Axis are friends, so I wasn't expecting them to also…"

"_Friends's_ a generous way of putting it, lady." Allen snorted, his lips peeling back in a disdained snarl. "Luci's one of those guys who doesn't buy into the whole friendship thing. He ain't got friends, he's got allies. Tools."

"It's not like our world, Liz." America said quietly, as if that was all that needed to be said. And you know what, maybe he's right.

Gillen's face was pained, and he lowered his head while curling his whole hand around his cross. He spoke in a low voice "Let us continue, please."

Frowning, Flavio slowly nodded and faced them again. "Right. Now, where was I…?

_Germany and Japan had been relegated to remain standing from a distance, albeit menacingly (and almost smugly, if he might add), which Flavio was endlessly grateful for. Their very presence was giving him more performance anxiety. But he knew that Luciano wasn't doing it out of the kindness of his heart. He hadn't had such a thing since… since…_

_"So," Flavio broke the silence with the most cheerful voice and smile he could manage, because it looked like no one else wanted to do it and he's not sure how much longer he could endure everything– "Please tell me. What is it that you want to talk about that you had me come all the way to your land, Luciano?"_

_"Spare me your obnoxious attitude; it's time to stop playing games." Italy stated sharply and with all the viciousness that always pained Flavio so._

_Flavio flinched, feeling like he'd just been slapped in the face again. "U-Uh, excuse me?"_

_He felt when Italy merely sneered at him in disdain. "Did I stutter, Flavio? I said that it's time you stop this stupid charade of yours and make up your mind once and for all. This ends now and today."_

_"I-I don't understand what you're saying," Flavio stammered. He hated himself for stuttering. But he felt fear building up in his stomach from his brother's words and the way he's–_

_"Mio Dio, how stupid can you be, fratello?" Again, Flavio flinched and he recoiled as Italy groaned loudly in frustration and looked at him again with a furious scowl. "It's time to decide: Me or those idiotas you call family."_

_Flavio wished he could say he kept a calm composure, but he obviously didn't. His jaw nearly dropped to the floor. "E-Excuse me? Wh-Where did this come from, Luci?"_

_Why would Luciano bring that up? Was why he bringing it up? DamnitDamnitDamnit_

_He wasn't expecting this. No. He probably should have._

_The matter– No. The fact that two nations from opposite sides shares a house – were sort of speaking terms with each other – and that Flavio was close to Luci's worst enemy was always a… precarious topic between them, one that both of them wordlessly agreed to never speak about. It's like an elephant in the room that was very rarely addressed. So much that it's less of an elephant and more like a blue whale. And God or whatever cruel deity's out there forbid that Luciano did bring it up. It never ended well. Never ended without pain._

_So why now? Why? Why at all? And more importantly, how was supposed to answer that question in this situation where Luci had total control here?_

_"Caught you off guard, didn't I?" Luciano's lips curved into a smug smirk. Flavio berated himself again. Weakness. You're not supposed to show weakness. "It doesn't matter where it came from. I've just come to a realization I should've had centuries ago."_

_"Realization?"_

_Luci didn't seem to be listening to him as he waved his hand lazily. "Si, si, it was long overdue. But I suppose with our current technology things will be much, much easier."_

_"Wh-What conclusion? What are you talking about?" Flavio demanded. He no longer cared that he's almost yelling now. These days have been driving him past the brink. And why was his mind screaming at him to run?_

_At first, Luci didn't provide an answer, instead opting to replace his smirk with a cold look with piercing gaze. He stared for a nauseatingly long moment before starting, slowly"Tell me, fratello, do you remember Nonno's most precious treasures?"_

_Flavio wondered if this was what having the rug swept out from under you felt like. What. What? Cold entered his veins. Everything seemed to blur. All except for his brother's voice._

_"You know what I mean. The scrolls."_

"_Please_ don't open yer trap to ask 'Scrolls? What scrolls, Flavio? Please tell me all about the _scrolls'_" Allen grumpily remarked while doing a painfully terrible imitation of Hungary's voice, accent and all.

Hungary's face twitched, and she deadpanned. "Okay. If you're going to mock me, can you at least get the accent right? You sound like you're from India."

"I thought it sounded like a thick German accent." America mumbled.

"If you two are done…" They both paled at the sound of the thinly-veiled annoyance in Flavio's voice and simultaneously muttered a quick apology. Flavio sighed heavily and smiled thinly at Hungary. "As for what the scrolls are, Elizaveta, I'm getting to that now. Listen carefully please. It pains me enough to talk about this, I'm not willing to repeat myself again."

_"Our Nonno was quite a man." Luciano went on without even waiting for Flavio's response. Quite a despicable man was more like it, but for bizarre reasons Luci would never approve of his opinion. "Having had the continent and more in his palm, he had intelligence beyond than what those meager, arrogant humans could ever hope to achieve or perceive with their pathetic minds. Fittingly he had a lot of secrets. Ways to ensure that his enemies wouldn't ever get the best of them. He had connections to people and things that could hardly be called such that he'd didn't dare let anyone else use for their gain."_

_Why was Luciano telling all this? It's not like Flavio could just forget all that, even when he wanted to. He didn't dare interrupt though, it's always clear when Luciano was going to go on and on about a certain topic, and so Flavio could only grit his teeth bear with it. More importantly, he needed to listen. _

_"It was only natural that he'd try to reach beyond his capabilities– No, completely surpass them. And with what he had, he knew he'd find a way. As he conquered, he learned, he pieced together mysteries nobody else could have ever hoped to solve. And with all he found, he put to very good use in creating his greatest weapon. The greatest weapon ever conceived. Pity he died before he could use it."_

_And as the conversation dragged on, Flavio wondered how long Luciano was going to continue singing that man's fucking praises. Granted, it's just acknowledging actual, unexaggerated facts about that damn man, but the smile on Luciano's face said it all. Please tell him that he wasn't dragging this on just for sadistic pleasure._

_"But you're already aware of this… aren't you?_

_Yes. Yes, he was. This made him wonder what the point of reminding him even was. If this were anyone else than Luciano, he'd deadpan those words. Goodness, he was having sarcastic thoughts involving Luci. The world really was going even madder._

_"Why are you asking me that, Luci?" Flavio settled for asking. This topic was draining him as it was, more emotionally than anything else. He wanted Luci to just drop it. "You **agreed** we'd forget about it."_

_You promised. _

_"I did. I take it back." Italy replied offhandedly. His eyes remained fixed on him. "But you still remember everything about that whole thing, right? You should. You know, with you having once been his intended successor and all."_

_As always, Flavio flinched and he felt himself tight-lipped with guilt. Luci never had any qualms about bring that up, it was a favorite weapon of his. He could feel Allen's rage from afar, even though he couldn't see or hear him._

_There was that paranoid part of him that wondered if Luciano knew, or at least suspected, of Allen, Prussia and the smiling man with dead eyes spying on them afar from different points, in his country, and he was deliberately attempting to provoke the most volatile member of the intruders. Or maybe he wasn't, and he wanted to feed all of them false info. He quickly cast aside that silly suspicion. Also, that was hardly the most relevant thing right now._

_Forcing himself to keep his voice calm and not let any of his feelings seep into his words, he said, careful and wary of his brother's reaction, "Of course I remember. How could I not when that man made such a big deal about it?"_

_Luci smiled, and it was nothing but teeth. "Good. Good. I'm happy to hear that, mio fratello."_

_Flavio expected a backhanded compliment following that, but it strangely never came. Never mind that though…_

_"Why are you asking me this, Luci?" Flavio asked quietly. Really, why was he? There's one possibility but foolishly he shut that out immediately._

_"Please don't ask questions you're clearly about to receive the answer to, fratello." Luciano's smile morphed into that ever-disdainful sneer, while frankly Flavio was more caught off guard that he said 'please'. "So to answer your question, my poor disgustingly sweet Flavio…"_

_Luciano smirked, and his eyes gleamed with the kind of unnerving, unfathomable desire that Flavio only saw in **that** man._

_"I aim to find every single one, and finish what Nonno started."_

_That sentence sucked all the air out of Flavio's lungs. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. No. No. No, he couldn't–_

_"What? Are you insane? You can't mean that, Luci." Right now Flavio didn't care that he was showing weakness. This was madness._

_"Oh, I mean every word of it." Italy snapped out. "Is your memory faulty after all? I said that it's time to stop playing games. Well, it's time we quit acting weak when we have knowledge of the arsenal to end all arsenals, all we need to do is find them and put them together. I'll show every one of those idiotas what true power is. I'll show them and the worthless humans the ultimate potential of our kind."_

_"So you're really going to use that damn treasures to do what he died before could even start?" Flavio couldn't believe his ears. He actually wished they were playing tricks on him, even if it meant getting scolded by Luci. "I can't – Wait, is this why you've been acting odd?"_

_Admittedly, as soon as the words left his mouth, he wanted to bite down on his tongue for actually saying odd. Luciano didn't usually take very kindly to anything that could be interpreted as an insult. At least he didn't say 'crazy' or 'foolish'._

_But it looked like he was worrying over nothing, his brother only made an annoyed noise and sneered in disdain. "And here I thought you've gotten over your annoying habit of stating the obvious. Hmph. But yes, your obvious statement is obviously correct. Why bother pretending to be weak when you have an overwhelming advantage over them everyone that no one could ever hope to beat, let alone figure out. Plus, it's fun watching them get all panicky and anxious."_

_He adorned that wonderful last sentence with a brief, but horrible deranged grin. Flavio suppressed a shudder at the sudden break in his brother's 'calm' facade. No. No. Don't show weakness. Don't show weakness._

_"Don't do it, fratello. Those things are dangerous. More than dangerous, actually! You could end up destroying yourself – or **worse**. Much worse!"_

_Allen and countless others would tell him to just let Luciano destroy himself, it'll do the entire world a favor they'd say. Even Gillen and Erszi would be hesitant to stop him. But Flavio just couldn't bring himself to do it. He couldn't abandon his brother._

_"I know what they are capable of, thank you very much. I'm not an idiot. Wouldn't be here if I was. I was present in enough of Nonno's lessons to know what and what not to do. He wouldn't risk us foolishly misusing the result of all of his hard work."_

_Like Flavio cared about that man's work._

_"So you should also know why those things are better left forgotten and buried!"_

_"No, I know that I have every reason to dig them up and unleash them."_

_"Listen to yourself, Luci! Are you really that desperate for more power that you'd turn to those things to help you get it?_

_Another mistake, even if he hardly regretted it for once. Luci's face contorted with rage. "I. Am. Not. Desperate. I just realized that there's no point wasting time and resources when I know the solution to all my problems. Well, there is still the issue of tracking them all down… but that won't be an issue for long."_

_There was a threat and knowing mockery laced in those words that almost made Flavio shift in discomfort that would definitely ring some alarm bells in his brother's head, but he fought to appear as puzzled as possible. Come on, you're good at this, Flavio. Smile. You've smiled through it so many times before so why should now be any different?_

_"Oh, and that's not all there is to it, fratello. The best part is coming right up next! Why limit ourselves to this world... when there's another one filled to the brim with fools ripe for the taking?"_

_It was a miracle that Flavio didn't go still. "Come again?"_

_"You heard me. The other world. Let's take it for ourselves."_

_This was naïve and foolish of him, but Flavio at this point was now desperately clinging onto the hope that this was all a sick joke, or maybe silly Flavio had dozed off during the car ride to the pier and all this was nothing more than a nightmare. Luci was never one for jokes. He only ever got amusement from tearing into people, whether figuratively or literally._

_Still, Flavio played his part and made the most convincing exasperated groan he could manage. "Mio Dio, you're still on about that whole nonsense about–" _

_"IT'S NOT NONSENSE!" Luciano bellowed, which nearly sent Flavio stumbling back in alarm. His brother didn't often yell, but when he did… Luci glowered down at him with his chest heaving and his face twisted in rage. "I know it's true, and you should be at least smart enough to know that I'm not a rambling madman like Hong Kong._"

_This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. This was worse than he could've ever anticipated. "But Luci, you–" _

_But Luciano ignored him. "They sit around in their petty squabbles, bending over for their human leaders. Worthless insects, all of them. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of that other me. I'm going to put an end to it all and show those nations just how tiny they are compared to–"_

_"Luciano, no." Interrupting his brother came more easily now, and he narrowed his eyes at Luciano in a sternness he hadn't used since they were children. "I don't care if this – other world you talk about is real or not. Regardless, it's not our right to–" _

_"Bullshit. We are the grandsons of the greatest empire there ever was in history. We deserve more than this. We will crush that world of light."_

_That made something in Flavio snap, red clouded his vision, and he closed his hands into fists. He no longer cared about weakness or their audience as he yelled, "Why are you so bent of fulfilling that man's desires? After all the shit he put us through, you should happy_

_"Because since the very beginning, I've had the courage to step up and do what you never could." All of Luci's anger began to pour out, spitting. "You're a coward, Flavio. You always liked dumping the responsibility on others, acting like you're not capable. You are! But you just don't get it._

_"And look what it got you, fratello." Flavio's voice was low and somber, all the franticness gone. Somehow, he stood calm, even in the face of his worst regret. "Which of us is truly happy? Which of us doesn't spend every moment of their lives angry and miserable and obsessing instead of appreciating the little joys of our cruel lives? Which of us experienced love and warmth? Which of us didn't push the people who wanted to help us away? Which of us is truly the hopeless brother?"_

_Never at any point in all that did he falter like he probably would've._

_Perhaps if the situation was different, he might've regretted the words that left his mouth. He didn't. He only regretted that it had come to this point. Flavio could only damn that man till his very last breath._

_"That can change, fratello." Luciano spoke slowly, as if it was difficult speaking while keeping himself from furiously lashing out. It wasn't a theory. Flavio could just see it in his eyes." We don't have to spend our whole lives like this."_

_He's missing the point. Flavio clenched his teeth in frustration and bit out, "How? By fulfilling that man's desires?"_

_"It's what we were meant to accomplish, idiota. What you were meant to do, before you got cold feet and left me with all the responsibility to bear. But I'll do better. I'll be better than Nonno could have ever hoped to be. Choose me, Flavio, and we'll do even more side-by-side."_

_Something else completely unexpected happened: his brother smiled. It wasn't anything like the bright, innocent smiles he'd give before that man got his hands on him. But it somehow felt similar… if you ignored the sheer madness._

_"Drop the whole soft act, leave those fools behind, realize you're better than this and side with me. Together we'll find the scrolls, combine them, and we'll annihilate any threat to our power and tranquility. Not even Russia will stand a chance. Once we have the world under our feet, there won't be any more misery for us, no will be able to hurt us again. We'll no longer live in Nonno's shadow, he'll soon be living under ours!"_

With that outrageous speech over, Flavio was left staring, and his brother, still smiling, reached out a hand.

_"So, what'll it it be, mio fratello?"_

_Flavio stared blankly at the hand extended toward him, dully wondering if any of this insanity was really happening. He knew his brother had gotten worse lately, but he never imagined it'd be this bad. If his brother hadn't truly gotten past the brink before, he certainly had now._

_That chance had long since passed._

_It's time Flavio acknowledged that. This insanity only drove the point home that there's no point clinging onto the hope for change any longer. He knew what he had to do now. He couldn't let his brother carry this plan. Their grandfather's legacy must stay buried._

_Taking a slow, careful breath in, painfully aware of the heart ramming against his chest and the filthy sweat on the back of his neck, Flavio at last gave the signal._

"And the rest, as they say, is history." Flavio gave a final thin smile as he finished recounting the story.

Next to her, America, in an alarming change of pace, seemed genuinely stunned by what he just heard. "Holy… Geez. This is…"

"A lot to take in," Hungary finished weakly.

Yes, no, no, that's probably the _understatement_ of this century. It's safe to say that America and Hungary were both… pretty damn surprised by all this info.

Hungary had anxiously listened to the whole, while trying very hard not to interrupt many times, even though usually the answer the questions he had would be solved a few moments later. All this seemed to do was answer some questions while spring up a whole batch of new ones. This was insane. It's official. This entire world was insane. But again, it did answer quite a lot of things… and even then, it was just…

She was not expecting any of this. Yes, that's pretty much becoming the norm for her, even for someone like her, but this might be more insane than the entire existence of this world itself. Roman scrolls containing invaluable information? The other Italy wanting to take over the world, and the other? It's left her practically speechless.

"What happened to Italy and the rest of the Axis?" America finally broke the silence, regaining some of his usual composure.

"They were quite surprised when we appeared on the scene." Gillen remarked, even while calmer than his two fellow natives he had his cross in a vice-grip. "It really seems that they hadn't been expecting us. And in the midst of their confusion, we were able to carry out our plan without a hitch as they say. Our benefactor made sure they would not remember the encounter and took care of any possible loose ends. Swiftly afterward, we were safely teleported back to New York."

"And broke a handful of my furniture." Allen mumbled.

"From there, after a brief period of… well, panic," Another smile, it's a wonder Flavio's not tired of them. "We… talked. I… had a lot I needed to explain to Ally and Gilly about Rome and everything. "

"Must've been a fun conversation then," America remarked, a hint of a smile on his face.

"No shit," Allen scoffed. That actually did get him an ear-pinch from Flavio.

"But let us return to the topic." Gillen picked up, "After our return we were made aware of what had occurred with our allies. The spies, I mean to say. A lot happened after that. But eventually we realized that we shouldn't keep the knowledge of a threat to your world a secret. You have a right to know about this, Alfred. Same to you, Elizaveta."

"You wanted to warn us." America stated, voice even.

"So wait, wait, let me get this straight," Hungary rubbed her temples as she felt an incoming headache. This was not how she expected her day to go. Getting a bombshell like this… "Italy… your Italy, wants to come to our world and… and…"

"Like, completely conquer it?" America picked up, sounding incredulous himself.

Their answer was given in the nods from the trio, all looking delighted by this as they were, and dread pooled into Hungary's stomach. She almost opened her mouth to ask if they were serious, but she realized how stupid that was. They sure were serious. The most serious she'd ever seen him, which wasn't much considering she met them only a week ago and this was the first time she'd met with them, but still…

"But– how?" Hungary could only ask, staring at them wide-eyed, and she started rubbing her head again. "How could the scrolls give someone power? And – And how could it let someone go to the other world? Wouldn't this mean that Rome knows about– us?"

"Good questions," Gillen nodded, and rested a hand on Flavio's shoulder again. "There are still many things we do not know. But the answer to that last one, Alfred, would be yes."

"…Hey. Hey, Flavs," America was frowning, and there was something like suspicion in his eyes as he scrutinized Flavio. "Your… gramps knew about us. He knew. And you know about this whole thing about the scrolls from him. Does this mean… you knew all along too?"

Hungary blinked twice and looked at Flavio with shock. Yes. Yes, that's right. Going with that logic, that would mean Flavio had to have known.

"Funny, asked the thing myself." Allen commented dryly, but otherwise he had no reaction.

"You're wrong. I didn't know about your world until we met you." Flavio replied smoothly, but he looked stiff from the almost-accusation. "I was genuinely surprised. And I only just found out about the scrolls apparently being able to take you to the other world that day."

Again, America looked genuinely puzzled. Something about it was just unnerving. "But then how–"

"I mentioned that Rome didn't share everything with me, right? Well, he definitely never mentioned anything like that. I think, since Luci… was his true successor… he… might've learned it from Rome. It's the only logical explanationHungary was surprised there's still logic in all this.

"Moreoever, and this is the great part," Flavio merrily continued as a terribly fake grin spread across his face. "I never saw any of the contents of the scrolls. Rome was too secretive, I'm afraid. Oh, and I have _no_ idea where that my absolute shitstain of a grandfather hid those damn things."

"…And your crazy brother is looking for them." Hungary couldn't help say flatly with the expression to match.

"…Si."

Absolute silenced followed after that, where Hungary could say for herself and America they realized how… bad yet horribly odd the situation was. She bit her lip, trying to make sense of all… this. All the while the trio in front of them of unlikely nations began to look uncomfortable and remorseful for being the bearers of bad news.

How did this turn from a getaway trip to a crisis situation?"

"So…" America spoke up, breaking the silence again, with a hand on his chin and a thoughtful yet concerned look on his face. "Your bastard gramps made these… super magic scrolls… somehow…"

"In all honesty, I don't know all the details of their creation myself." Flavio sounded bothered by this this as his lip curled in disgust. "I doubt Luci knows everything either. Rome was always such a careful man. But I do know there quite a number of supernatural deals involved."

"What, you mean like he sold his soul?" Even America sounded skeptical of the idea. Hungary never understood why people, unless they had some kind of method to cheat through the deal, which, to her knowledge, usually horribly backfired on them in the end.

Flavio chuckled, but it sounded hollow. "Ha! Good one, Al. You're implying he actually had one in the first place. But no, Rome wasn't dumb. He made sure any deal he made wouldn't in any way inconvenience him too much or ruin him in the long run."

"What Flavio actually means to say…" Gillen once again took over the task of explaining, though not before shooting a worried glance at the wistful Flavio. "…Is that Rome had the help of people specializing in magic from many corners of the globe, of course including of the territories he had under his control. There's even the possibility that the scrolls were also created with the help of gods."

Hungary was sure her surprised expression was something Romania would laugh at. "I'm sorry. Gods?"

"Yes, gods. And trust me when I say they're not even the weirdest shit this world has to offer." Allen made a wry smile. Flavio looked like he wanted to pinch his ear for swearing again, but was just too downhearted to do it.

"Yes, but… actual gods. How did–"

"_Please_ don't ask me how he did it or why in the name of Emilio Pucci would any god help him make something like that for him. Like I said, I don't know all the details. I just know they were involved somehow, especially the Egyptian pantheon. God knows why they did."

"Right. Right, alright…" Hungary accepted that, reluctantly, if only because there's more pressing matters. "So… there arethese scrolls, Rome made them, and... how many did he make?"

"If my fabulous memory serves right…" Flavio scrunched up his face. "Then around twenty or so. Each just as important as the last."

Wow, those are a lot of scrolls. Probably. "And... they're dangerous?"

"Extremely," Flavio nodded somberly. "As I mentioned before, Rome had said that these scrolls – made by a horrifying fusion of different types of magic and the hands of gods – hold the knowledge and power needed to transcend and become the most powerful being on Earth, forever unchallenged.""

"Transcend, huh?" He seemed to have been absorbed a little in his musings, judging from his expression. Not that Hungary blamed him. "Kinda like one of those doomsday MacGuffins you see in movies, games n' stuff. Not that that downplays any of the danger though…"

"Oh, I'm aware of how absurd this might come across, considering how your world isn't as open with the supernatural as ours," Flavio let out a small sigh as Hungary a double take and gaped in shock in the background. Wait, so these sorts of things were normal here? "And how your Rome… You get my point. But the danger is real. Do you realize this too, Hungary?"

Hungary was slightly caught off-guard by the question, letting out a confused noise. Then realized that someone was new to this bizarre other world business would find all this more new information pretty hard to accept, let alone digest. Well, to tell the truth, it kind of was. But she supposed they didn't know her that well yet.

"Don't worry, I believe you." Hungary stated earnestly, giving a small smile. "I'm long, _long_ past the stage where I think this is all a bizarre fever dream."

It helped that she'd never been much of a skeptic, and that she knew Poland and Romania.

"There's one thing I don't understand though," Well, actually there's a lot of things she didn't understand but one step at a time as they say. "If these things are so dangerous and you had someone perform a memory wipe, why didn't you get them to erase any memory Luciano had of these scrolls?"

For once, Allen didn't look at her as if she was an idiot, and Gillen was nice enough to provide an answer. "What would he think if he arrived home to find files and information regarding a search for the scrolls all over the globe?"

Oh. Well, yeah, that would raise some interesting questions. Great, now she _did_ feel like an idiot.

"That's why there were Italian spies!" America suddenly exclaimed, actually startling her, realization dawning on his face. "He sent them to find info on where these scrolls could be!"

"Bingo," Allen confirmed, smirking mirthlessly for just a second before going back to his trademark scowl. "That fucker was snooping for clues. And this info adds up with the intel our guys got out of the spies. They were searching ruins, caves, whatever for something. And that something are the scrolls. Looks there ain't any here in America, or at Gil's place for that matter."

"But thanks to our new information given to us by our friends, we now have a few places to begin our search." Gillen said in a lighter manner, though his frown deepened. "However, there is always the possibility that Luciano had the wrong location, or that it's all simply a ploy to throw us off."

"Point of all this is, though," Allen scowled. "We know what that bastard's big plan is. And it's… fucking worse than we thought."

"There is a war on the horizon," Gillen said grimly, is grip on his cross tightening again. "But it's a war that Italy intends to win without effort."

"And if Luciano finds what he's looking for," Flavio pressed his mouth into a thin line, then offered one last smile, one filled more with sympathy and regret than false cheer. "Well. That would spell a _big_ problem for both our worlds."

**This was way harder to write than I thought. I hope it turned well. Hopefully with the hard part out of the way, things will be a lot easier from here. I'd appreciate some feedback, make sure my writing's not slowly going bad cause of my slow updates. Thanks for reading!**


	21. A Decision (or two)

**Thanks for all the reviews! Hey, everybody! Here's an even more overdue chapter. I really need to take some time to make a proper outline for this story. You'll notice chapter's shorter than the others, but I just couldn't go any longer without updating this. Hope you enjoy it anyways! Now, on with the show!**

Ever since the meeting, Taiwan had found it hard to look at mirrors without feeling really sick to her stomach. Ugh. No, it's more than that, she's scared that she might see- whatever that weird shit was that she saw again. Which sucked because her hair takes a bit of a while to straighten out and she just knew she put the flower in her hair all wrong.

But no matter how hard she tried to push it out of her mind and get over it, somehow she could see herself die again, wearing the same pretty dress.

She let her head fall into her folded arms on the table of her vanity mirror, letting out a long, tired, noise, just sick and tired - literally and figuratively- of this.

What's wrong with her? Taiwan made a sour face. Ugh, she could just hear China spouting out a long, long list of things wrong with her, most of them starting with the word 'ungrateful'. She snorted. Forget that old fart. This whatever you'd call it was starting to become a serious problem, not to mention really getting on her nerves. Come on, it's been a week already, Taiwan. Why can't she-

Why did she keep feeling that something's seriously wrong?

She didn't think this'd end up bothering her more than it did. Sure, she failed to talk to Thailand about all this, but her day had taken a turn for the better when America finally came back,

You know, she never did figure out what the whole deal was with her and America. Taiwan then went deathly still. They weren't dating, were they?

Ohhh... Taiwan swallowed the dread lumping in her throat. Well... she'll get to the bottom of that later. Right now, she had an equally if not even more important problem to deal with. And she's thinking that she might now just the person to help her out...

/ / / / /

Little after that was all said, the conversation then just... ended.

Not that abruptly, of course. There were some more questions, this time mostly from America rather than Hungary (though it helped that she shared a lot of America's questions, she's desperate for help in wrapping her head around all this). A lot of shock. Lot of disbelief. And finally, letting the whole reality of the matter sink in.

It all sounded so ridiculous, if you carefully ignore the terrifying aspects.

Then it ended. A sort of quiet – you know, like the one where no one's talking anymore and you don't know what else to say and it seems that no else did either so the whole atmosphere starts to feel really, really awkward? – settled in the room, it lingered for a long moment until America turned around, and without a word, left.

Just… walked away. Hungary considered going after him – she wanted to say want but she's so stunned by everything she just found out that she didn't know what to do – but Gillen suggested that the two of them take some time to digest this whole lovely bombshell that got dropped on them. 'Cause, you know, it's not every day you find out that a psycho from the alternate dimension you discovered only a week ago might invade your world. Hungary could barely hold back a sigh of relief and just said, 'Yeah, that'd be nice'.

Gillen tried to smile in a way that showed that he wanted to assure her that everything would be just peachy. One really had to admire the amount of effort he's putting to be a this calming, reassuring presence for their odd group. It made Hungary feel all the more worse for not feeling any better.

Flavio nodded at her, like telling her he understood. His expression had hardly changed from the somber look it was set, but his eyes held great deal of pity and... guilt? Explaining the unpleasant truth? He didn't have anything to be sorry about. Too much, there's too much pain and bitterness hiding under his normally cheery attitude.

Just one more thing he shared with Poland.

Allen didn't say anything either. His dark red eyes stared off at the direction America went off to with a confliction over whether or not to do something that Hungary heavily sympathize with. Eventually, his shoulders slumped, seemingly giving up on going after his counterpart, likely realizing that America probably needed some time alone too, and then his eyes met hers.

He didn't scowl or anything, which was a relief. He just stared. But if she didn't know any better, she'd say he was sorry for her. Well, that's… rather nice of him, she supposed. And it's good change of pace.

'Talk to him' His eyes seemed to say, more like plead. Hungary will be damned if she didn't.

She left the room for a moment alone to herself. Few minutes later, she did just that.

Wringing her fingers while trying to keep the anxiety from everything welling up from swallowing her whole, Hungary quietly went to find her America- her world's America, she meant. As she walked, she took a bit of time admiring the interior design. You know, it's quite lovely for someone as punkish as Allen. The brownish colors, shiny wooden floor, and miscellaneous items all gave the place a nice, warm feeling of home.

Too bad the all-oppresing silence ruined it. There was no warmth. Only dread and uncertainty, and the question of how a simple but fantastical getaway trip could escalate so quickly like this.

She found America sitting on a couch of what was obviously the living room, a colorful one at that. He didn't look up until she approached him, worried, snapping him out of his trance. There was no smile to greet her.

And that's alright. Last thing Hungary wanted was to force him to keep a cheery front.

"Hey, dudette."

"Hey... dude."

There was a feeling of deja vu that Hungary didn't really pinpoint until she realized that here they were again, sitting together after a difficult, concerning conversation, with America even having that same glum look of solemnity and more apparently, guilt.

And so followed several seconds of awkward silence.

"Can I-?"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. Sure, dude.

So she did. More awkward silence ensued with Hungary struggling to find a way to break the ice and get the conversation going,

"Look. I, I'm sorry, about all this." America's voiced was pained with regret as he, "You shouldn't be involved in this, or even

"And miss the news that Italy's megalomaniac doppelgänger might invade us?" Hungary said lightly, making an attempt to smile and lighten up the mood. "Listen, Alfred. You don't have to apologize."

"Yes, I do!" She flinched at the yell and America stood up. He looked angry, but it wasn't directed at her. "I brought you here because I wanted to help. I wanted to share the fun of this place with you. And what happens? First we pop up right in the middle of a time of high political tensions, and now this! And this is just the second visit! After last week!"

"You did help me, Alfred." Hungary meant it. Last week's trip was something precious in a way she hadn't felt in decades. "I haven't had that much bizarre fun in a long while, and I'm thankful."

"Yeah, but now you get to go home knowing- being one of the people knowing everybody's in danger. You're gonna have to live every day, watch everybody laugh and go about like nothing's wrong –"

"Hey! If we survived decades with the threat of nuclear war over our heads, we can survive this." She defended. Sure, it's not quite the same magnitude, but… it's still... something similar.

America frowned, "This is different. Also, I lost around half of my remaining sanity thanks to Cold War, Hungary."

"Really? So did I!" Hungary said more cheerfully than she should, and she lightly elbowed his side. "I'm not mad, Alfred."

"You should be." America said solemnly.

"Well, as a certified crazy person, I'm not!" Hungary insisted, giving her best grin. All the while inwardly begging America to just smile again. "Really, I'm not. I'd rather be in the know than stay ignorant, no matter how bad it is. I'm still truly, deeply grateful that you brought me here. There's no way you could've known things would turn out like this."

She let a pause to let that sink in. Then:

"Now get that unnecessary guilt out of your head... or will I have to beat it out of your brain?

With perfect timing, her frying pan materialized in her right hand, straight out of her portable wormhole. Her plastic smile remained perfectly plastered on her face as America jerked back, his face white with fear.

"Hey now… No need to bring in the frying pan into this." He laughed nervously as he sweated bullets.

"There won't be any need once you quit with the guilt complex, Mr. Hero." Hungary replied sweetly.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" America exclaimed frantically, and thankfully, genuinely, holding up his hands in surrender. "I mean it, dude! Can you please put that away, now."

Hungary did with a satisfied hum and smiled gratefully at America. "Thank you very much."

"I think I should be the one saying that." America sighed, but he soon returned the smile with a warm one. "You're… really cool, Liz. You don't take Hope you never forget that."

Wh-Where did that come from? The sudden compliment left Hungary more or less sputtering because- well, that's sweet of him, but she wasn't Anyway, Hungary wasn't blushing. You were blushing. She managed a quick 'thanks' after regaining her composure.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Hungary asked worriedly. But if she knew America, she could easily guess the answer.

"What a hero's gotta do." America was nothing but resolute. Curling up his hands into fists, he fixed the floor with a frown."I can't leave and go back to my life while Allen and the guys deal with this mess. Our world's at stake too. So I'll help them in any way I can."

That wasn't a surprise. And Hungary had to admire him for how quickly he made up his mind. But this just brought up a lot of questions and… "Like how? Won't you being from the other world be a problem?"

"Nah. There's a lotta ways I can probably help." Shrugging, America's gaze moved to the ceiling. "I've been around this world, course not a lot but I get how things work around here. I can help with intel gathering, maybe ask Tony to help me in making something that'll help me find portals all over the world. We've already been making some progress in..."

Like that, America drifted off into a series of musings and mutterings about his plan, too absorbed in his world to see how Hungary was looking at him. How worried and anxious about the risks helping out the people here. Goodness, she could practically hear all the gears in his head turning and grinding. She'd never really seen this kind of side to him, at least not in such a serious way.

"You've been thinking a lot about this, already." Hungary had to note. This seemed to snap him out of his planning reverie.

America's smile was tight-lipped and tense. "Course I have. I'm the hero."

That doesn't mean there's not a chance you'll get in trouble. "Can you really do all that?"

"C'mon, Liz. Didn't ya hear what I said? I'm the hero." The laugh from before and after the words was painfully forced, and Hungary could tell what's really going on under the surface even as his smile never faltered. "Sides, there's much choice if we wanna keep our home world safe from Luciano. God knows we already got our own set of problems to deal with. Don't worry about me, you worry about yourself and your country…"

Worry about herself? How could he…

Wait. Was he assuming that she's going to go back and try to forget all this! Hungary's eyes widened as the realization hit her, while America of course remaining oblivious to the change in the atmosphere.

Hold a minute.

Did she want to get involved? Did she want to help? Hungary pursed her lips at her own indecision. She barely knew these people, as charming as they all were. So she supposed she could understand why America would jump to that conclusion. But he said it himself; their world was at stake too. Would Hungary live with herself if she just sat back in her house in relative safety while America's off preventing an invasion from another dimension?

…No, of course she wouldn't live with herself! That's ridiculous! Hungary's never one to just sit back and watch. She was a woman of action! Always was and always will be.

"Alfred. Elizaveta."

Two heads instantly turned to find Gillen standing in the doorway, his face soft but solemn, though his gaze was full of concern.

"We'd like to speak to both of you again, if you're willing, of course." Gillen said slowly. "Do you need more time?"

America and Hungary glanced at each other. She couldn't tell what he's really thinking, but he seemed to be searching her for a response. _I'm okay_, she tried to convey.

The blonde turned again to the Prussia copy and smiled. "Sure, Gil."

One minute later and they were back where they once were. Except now the atmosphere was only a little less tense.

"So, now yoi're aware of what we're up against," Gillen began with the same grimness he'd been carrying. "I- We apologize for placing the burden of worry on you…"

"They needed to know, Gil." Flavio reminded him quietly. Opposite of him, Allen nodded his head in agreement.

"That, and I really doubt I coulda gotten anything past Goldie." Allen flashed a wry grin at his doppelganger, who mustered a weak smile in response.

"He's right. Allen sucks at lying to me. The best he could so is dodge questions.."

"Gee , thanks, Mr. Humble Hero."

"Anytime, dude!"

Allen and Alfred share twin toothy grins. Neither of them truly reached their eyes. But Hungary's glad they're making an effort to help each other, even succeeding a bit. Gillen and Flavio seemed to share the same sentiment.

"All the same," Gil cleared his throat, sobering the mood again. His concerned gaze flickering between the two outsiders. "May we ask what you intend or wish to do now? We understand one cannot simply go back to their everyday life after such revelations."

"Course, shit like this is normal for us, so I'm not sure if we'd be good at giving any helpful advice.

Flavio didn't even look at Allen as he pulled at the latter's ear, his smile weary as the redhead swore. "But we'd always make an effort for you two. It's what we can do for spoiling your plans like this."

"You kidding?" America said, disbelieving, eyes narrowed. "How could we care about that right now? You guys have real big problem on your hands, and I'm not telling y'all do it alone."

"Goldie, no." Allen hissed.

"Goldie, yes. Let me help you guys."

"No. I won't let you." Allen snapped. "Get that damn hero complex outta your head and listen. What if Luciano finds out about you? I'm not gonna let you anywhere near him. That includes coming over!"

"I won't be near him." "And I gotta say, you're being awfully overprotective for being the one who decided that we had a right to know about this whole mess in the first place.

"I'm not being – Damn it. I meant that you deserved to know, not that you need to get involved.

"Enough, both of you." Gillen's firm voice cut through the air and put an end to the argument as the two Americas automatically shut up. "Alfred. To be frank, I knew you'd want to throw yourself for our cause as soon as you'd hear of our circumstances. It is very noble of you, willing to help us denizens of this world. But this is not something you could simply step into, despite of your history of easily doing it. Should Luciano – or any non-Alliance nation – come to discover your existence, the consequences could be potentially catastrophic. The same goes for Elizaveta here.

The woman herself couldn't help flinch at hearing her name spoken. Well, I mean, for a moment there she's starting to suspect she was being completely forgotten, or worse, excluded from this conversation. Not that this was the time to bring that up, mind you. Now was the time to pay attention.

America, being the wonderful but stubborn person that he was, was ready to object. "But–"

"Let me finish, please." The albino ordered, raising a hand, and America quieted. Gillen breathed out, "However… I cannot deny that this is indeed a precarious situation we have, one maybe even beyond the scope of our power and abilities. And so we need all the help we can get. That includes from off-world sources."

"Gil, damn it, you'd better not be saying what I think you're saying…" Allen started, growling.

Gillen leveled Allen with an admonishing stare that, despite it being on Prussia's faces, managed to look. So much that it even made Allen falter for a moment, but like the guy he was, he stubbornly stood his ground.

"Allen, you know the odds we're up against. I'm not fond of this idea either, but if we want to win…"

"I know, I know! But, there's gotta be…"

"So you'll let me help?" America cut in, perking up with his eyes gleaming with hope, even with how Allen scowled at him.

Gillen nodded. "Indeed we will. It would be much appreciated."

America beamed, a look that only looked cute, but one Hungary admitted she's happy to see again.

Oh, but fortunately, the moment didn't last long.

"Hey, hey! Hold it!" Allen barked, and everybody's eyes were on the scowling. He, and fear? "How the fuck are we gonna explain this to the other guys?"

"Well, we'll figure out, we always go." A cheery voice answered, and everybody looked at the smiling Flavio. He looked like he hadn't ever stopped smiling. "That's what you always say, no, mi bambino?

Allen made a sound that amusingly sounded like a mix between a choke and a curse. "No way. You too, Flavs? You of all people should know how risky this is."

Flavio's mood sobered at the question, and the look on his face became pensive. "I admit, do have mixed feelings about involving Allie here. If possible, I'd like to completely leave our two guests out of this mess and bar them from visiting again until further notice. And I know Gillen thinks the same. But I agree with what he said, Al. We need help. Alfred has things we Darkners do not have."

There was a pause as a smile found Flavio again.

"Plus, as nations, is it not our duty to put our land and people before our personal feelings?"

As the blonde finished his argument, it's clear that his words had a profound effect on Allen's resolve. It was weakening, but he was hesitant to give up. Sensing this, Flavio gave him a plainly pleading look that reminded Hungary of how vulnerable he was too.

"Bullshit," Allen muttered, though there was only around a quarter of the usual snappishness present. "If I had a nickel for every time we put each other before our own people and land…"

"Please, Allen," Flavio's tone became softer. "Think about everybody. Let Alfred in for their sakes. For the sake of Cuba, for Argentina, for Molossia, for the humans you love– and don't tell me you've forgotten Erszi…"

At Hungary's doppelganger's own name – whom she still wasn't entirely sure what to feel for – she wasn't expecting to see Allen squirm and watch all of his stubborn resolve crumble in an instant.

"Gah! Fien!" Allen yelled out, throwing his hands up in defeat, and he stiffly turned his head toward America and "You're in, Goldie!"

America practically exploded in joy and Hungary smirked as he threw his arms around Allen's shoulders. "Ohhhh, thanks so much, buddy!"

It was hilarious how Allen froze up in the face of America's unyielding affection, then awkwardly returned the hug with slightly shaking arms.

"Y-Yeah. You better be thankful, Goldie." Allen huffed, then somehow managed to pull away from America's energetic grip. His expression serious, he leaned forward to poke his blinking counterpart in the chest. "But if you're gonna be part of the team, you're gonna do things _our_ way. That means you'll follow everything we say and follow our orders to a T, so no disobeying us to swoop in for a dramatic rescue or shit, alright? Promise you'll do that?

"I promise." America said without hesitation.

Like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders with those words, Allen's normally rigid posture relaxed considerably and he leaned back, satisfied. Nothing about the Italy problem's been done yet, but to Hungary it felt like things have begun to feel more hopeful for them. It's a nice feeling.

It also got Hungary thinking… The more, .

"I do love it when they finally come to an agreement." Flavio remarked with a proud sniffle and a hand over his chest. Gillen just shook his head, though looked happy too.

Oh, definitely. Well! This was really nice and all. But now, Hungary couldn't stay quiet any longer. Any longer and she might become transparent like Ca… What's-his-name!

"Great!" She said suddenly, intentionally with a higher volume, and everybody's attention turned toward her and her tight smile. "That's great. Except, uh, hello? I'm here too?

Surprise, following by embarrassment crossed the men save America's faces and . Hungary could just feel her eyes twitching in annoyance. Oh, come on! She wasn't forgettable like, like… that guy who looked like America, what's-his-name!

"Right. Of course we knew that." Flavio said merrily.

"Totally," Allen said in a curt manner

All it did was make Hungary more annoyed, but when Gillen stepped forward and cleared his throat, his words were actually genial. "We apologize, Elizaveta. We didn't mean to make it seem like you're not part of this conversation. This concerns you just as much."

…Goddamn, how could it be possible for a guy with Prussia's face to be so gentlemanly? Hungary shrieked in her mind.

"D-Don't worry about it," Hungary cursed herself for stammering but didn't dwell on it as her smile returned. "But anyway, do you have a detailed plan for me or are you going to let me voice what I have in mind?"

"What are you saying, Liz?" America asked.

"What do you think I want to do?" Hungary

America looked as if she just handed him an incredibly complex mathematical problem. "Wh-What do you mean? You're gonna go home, right? I mean,

Hungary didn't know whether to be exasperated or flattered that America's , or if she could blame him for going what was. You know, even though her line of thinking wasn't exactly the same as a normal, boring person.

"No."

"No?"

"I'm not " "You expect me to just go back to my life, dealing with political drama and Poland's attempt to bedazzle my house while you're off stopping a megalomaniac from breaking into our dimension? Hahaha, no. Since you're going to be part of this, might as well get in on the action too."

"Absolutely not." Gillen snapped, his face contorting.

It was so sudden and so unexpected that Hungary nearly jumped out of her skin. She stared.

Even Allen and Flavio looked stunned. "Gil…"

As if only just realized what he did, Gillen's face drained of its color and darted his head eyes away, a hand pressing against his head. "I-I'm sorry, I… I need a moment. Perhaps I'm not fit to judge. Alfred, you know her. What are your thoughts?"

She half-expected America to object to her declaration like Allen did with him. But America only looked flabbergasted, and a bit uncertain. "You… You serious, Liz? I mean, you've only just learned about all this and I can't ask you to-"

"You're not asking me, I'm asking you to let me help." Hungary said, nothing but determined. She looked to the others, who to her dismay all appeared unsure as well. "I can do a lot of things. Beat the crap out of people, spy on the enemy, bake come cookies, I don't care. Just let me do something to contribute to stopping that crazy Italy from screwing our homes!"

Hungary's had enough of doing nothing but taking shit for the past couple of years. This was her chance to do something for the world. She wanted to do this, for America, Poland, for Austria, for Czechia, and even for Slovakia and that stupid vampire.

"He's had decades to experience this world for himself." Gillen stated, tone cold but his eyes begging her to reconsider. "You are only beginning to scratch the surface."

"Yeah, you remember what we told you 'bout this world, do ya, lady?" Allen regarded her with scrutiny, like assessing if this world would swallow her hole. "This is a real shitty place we live in, worse than your human leader-filled shithole. And what we and Al's probably told ya doesn't even touch the tip of the iceberg. You really sure you can handle what the Dark World has to offer?"

It felt like a mocking, skeptical question. But something told Hungary there was more to it than Allen was letting on. There's just something about the way he's staring at her. She wondered if it had to do with a certain someone sharing her face…

"Yes. I am." Hungary stated, chin up as if to dare him to try and stop her. "You're the ones who decided that this concerned me too. Well? I'm deeply concerned, so I'm going to help out any way I can."

For her home. For all the people in the world she or had ever treasured.

"So boys," Hungary clapped her hands together loudly, a wicked grin on her face. "What's our plan?"

**Thanks for still reading this! Please review, if you have a minute.**


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